Ambiguity
by Heathrawr101
Summary: Thrown into another land after a mysterious chakra, Sakura is torn between helping its people or finding Sasuke and Naruto. Rated M due to SNKs graphic images, ships unsure as of now.
1. Dawn

Thrown into another land after a jutsu, Sakura is torn between helping its people or finding Sasuke and Naruto. Rated M due to SNKs graphic images, ships unsure as of now.

She felt the adrenaline spreading through her body. Something was different this time. The way they had been ambushed had seemed normal at first for the anbu trio. Crouching low as she landed on a branch, she reach out to find the chakra of her teammates. She could feel Naruto's signature spread out in multiple places thanks to his clones moving about. Sasuke was not a far distance away from her.

This was Team 7. They had been together from genin to now anbu, each among the three new age sannin. Of course Sai and Yamato we're still around, but both preferred not to ruin the dynamic the three of them had. Kakashi is in training to be the hokage, with Tsunade wanting to pass down the role.

Another explosion jostled Sakura from her thoughts. She can't even remember how long ago this fight started. It's been explosion after explosion, there was a problem though. They all couldn't detect another being out in the forest besides themselves. The only thing that was noted so far, was that the area is in a floating pocket of chakra. It looked like a storm cloud, with some areas having a more dense and bright collection of hazy grey chakra. Those were the spots the explosions would happen in, but with no set timing or pattern.

She stood up as she felt a weight add onto the branch. Glancing at him she realized how much he looked like his younger self. He openly showed his unhappiness at the moment instead of a blank slate. They hadn't been on an anbu mission so they were all in their regular attire with long tan cloaks for the rain they had anticipated. Sasuke gone to wearing the regular jonnin outfit, save for the uchiwa fan on the back of the dark blue long sleeve. His hair still styled like he's had for years.

Wearing her short red dress with slits on the side, the black slash around her waist exaggerating her curves. She had felt less prudey the more she aged, with ino daring her to wear short shorts with the outfit instead of mid thigh ones. That and her temper had gone down as she realized how childish it was. She still saved it for occasions involving stupidity and her boys though.

A Naruto clone jumped up towards the two of them. He had kept his hair wild, a tad longer and spiked. A long black sleeve over top of his orange pants. The hero and strongest ninja in the world still refuses to give up his favorite color. Huffing, he jabbed a hand towards the rest of the Narutos spread about.

"We still can't feel anyone or even a start point." Crossing his arms as he continued," You guys got anything?"

"No." His red eyes narrowed. "It's like you said. No start point, no detectable enemy."

"I've never heard of chakra just resting in the air like this before. Let alone combusting." She added as it happened again.

"It's starting to dense again, keep moving. If we can't get any information we will pull out of its radius in the next half hour."

Following the Uchiha's order they started to spread out from each other again. Her chakra control was good, but it couldn't help them with anything in this case. Unless...

She held out her hand, letting baby blue chakra seep slowly out. Keeping it like a mist floating in the air she wondered if she could grasp the foreign one in the air. She felt two things at once. Her chakra had started to tug at the grey one, while a crackling in the air could be felt around her. She felt her hair raise up as she realized it felt like a build up around her. She was trying to cut off her chakra but it wasn't working, it was like her pathways door refused to budge even a bit.

She could hear Sasuke yelling a bit of ways behind her. Naruto's voice adding in as he realized something was wrong. She wanted to respond but was trying to focus on her pathway. She wasn't sure if she tried to jump and move away now if she would be compromised. If she wasn't able to control her chakra she wouldn't be able to stick to the trees or jump to reach the next one. Panic was starting to creep up on her.

Feeling a strong arm grip hers, she still kept her eyes pinned to her hand. Up to her elbow was starting to feel light, as if her limb wasn't there. She was so focused on the feeling she almost didn't catch Sasuke asking what happened.

"I was using my chakra," finally lifting her green eyes to his black ones,"As soon as my chakra touched it, i lost my ability to control my own."

"Keep focusing on it," he started to pick her up,"I'm going to move us away."

She didn't know if she could. She felt like she was drunk! The light feeling was slowing growing across her buddy. The feeling was as if all her limbs were starting to fall asleep.

"This didn't happen when I let my chakra out?" The blonde said as he bounded from branch to branch with them.

"It might be because of her control." He looked back and had a confused face from what he saw. "It's as if it's all gathering now and just following us. We will just leave the area, what ever is going on can't be good for her."

Something was egging her in the back of her mind. What was it though?

"Is she okay?" Worried blue eyes gazed at her.

"I can see her Chakra hovering around her still, but it's almost like it's stuck in a hand shake with some of the foreign chakra."

"A hand shake?" The blonde tilted his head to the side.

"They aren't mixing. But i can see it's going into her body in small streams. Just twisting around and moving along her chakra."

Foreign body exposure...what usually causes symptoms like this...

"It's in her?!"

"Yes Dobe, now shut up and focus-"

"It's like a poison or parasite."

They both looked at her with concern in their eyes. Sasuke more, as he realized the more seconds that went by the more limp her body felt.

"Okay so if it's in you, Sakura-Chan what do we-"

Another explosion. This time all three were in it. Something was wrong about this chakra. She felt the tight grip around her hold strong. The pressure and bright light around them had them all clenching their eyes closed. It felt like they were in a tornado, something was so harsh and throwing them side to side. Sounded like they were in one too. Just what kind of an explosion does that?!

Being thrashed around, with no feeling of gravity, she could feel Sasuke loosing his grip after a few moments. She was reaching out for him, to grab his shirt or any part of him. She yelled his name in panic as she felt the hold go to just her arm. Bruises would form later from how tight his grip was but it wasn't working none the less. Slowly inching down her arm their last attempt to stay together was them holding hands. She tried to squint her eyes open but no luck. Finally they were ripped apart. The last thing she heard was her name.


	2. Landing

Now she felt like she was falling. She opened her eyes at the sudden onset of gravity. Just in time to see the brick rooftop she was about to land on. Turning to fall on her shoulder, she realized the drunk feeling in her body was gone, along with the foreign chakra. Reaching out, she found her pathways were back to normal. Cushioning her shoulder with her chakra, she smashed against the bricks. Her long hair rolling over her as her body made its way across the roof not too gently. Throwing a hand out and grasping at the stone, she stopped her momentum just shy of the edge. She felt her lip had been cut from hitting a jagged tile. Small cuts in her cloak and along her arm. She picked her head up slowly as she looked around.

Her eyes widened as she realized that she was no longer in the forest outside of fire country. It was a village with high walls. She started to lift herself up into a crouching position. This village looked smaller than Konoha. The architecture was different as well. Taking her time to move her eyes along to every detail she noticed smoke trails. Either buildings were on fire or somehow destroyed. She couldn't tell as they weren't they close to her.

She stood up, bringing the hood of her cloak up. Tucking her hair inside and pulling a mask out from her back pouch on her waist. It was her anbu mask, a cat with stripes going down it from the diamond, similar to her seal. She kept it on her at all times, for occasions like this. If this village is at war it would not be best to be seen . She's as known as Sasuke and Naruto. With her medical techniques surpassing Tsunade herself. This might create tensions between Konoha and...this village.

She caught movement a distance away from her. Running along the rooftops to get closer she noticed a black haired woman being throwing to the side on top of a roof. Hitting into part of it against her back. But that's not what Sakura put all her focus on. No, that would be the giant creature across from the woman who was starting to stand.

Green eyes widened as they observed it. It looked like a man with a deformed face. Bright green glowing eyes with long shaggy hair framing it face. It's teeth showed it didn't have a usual jaw, it was shaped differently than a humans but at the same time this creature looked like it could be one. It was like how the white zetsus had no male anatomy but you could tell it was male. Smoke tunneling out from its hand, which she can now safely assume was what caused the woman to be flung to the side.

She saw others gathering on another rooftop. A woman and some males. All of them wearing the same uniform. Staring at them, she noticed they also all had a machine attached to their hips. Reaching out to sense their chakra, she realized they were all civilian level. The creature on the other hand, had a malevolent grey haze inside of it, just like the one that her trio had run into. There was a small speck of civilian chakra on the inside but she glossed it over as maybe a person that was eaten.

Confident she could easily hide from civilians she jumped closer. Going around in a circle fashion as she watched the small group yelling at the black haired woman to run away. Landing just a rooftop over she put a genjustu over her body to better hide herself in plain sight. She was close enough to hear the conversations, rather easy with how they yelled to one another also.

The monster had its arm up in the air, obviously ready to throw another punch towards the woman.

"Ackerman, look out!" One of the men was yelling as her was moving to get closer to her.

Sakura watched as the woman jumped out of the path in time. A large grunt was created from the large creature, as its fist landed in the same spot the woman was. The machine on her hip let out a hook and line, aimed at the top of the creatures head. Confusion set in as she watched the young female land on its face, holding onto its hair as if to not let the hooks hurt it. The green glowing eyes focusing in on the human right in front of them.

The man who had yelled before, now standing on the rooftop was yelling once again.

"Hey! Ackerman! Stand down, now! Get away from him! That's an order!" He was completely ignored.

"Eren!" Sakura could hear the concern flowing from 'Ackerman's voice. "I know you're in there, goddamn it! I know you recognize me!"

Watching from the distance she was at, she could see the tightening in the muscle going along the creatures arm. Staying where she was at she knew she wouldn't intervene. This could be like a new tailed beast for all she knew, her and Sasuke have had moments in the past like this with Naruto. It's not her place to act.

"That's right!" Ackerman exclaimed, mistaking the muscle tightening for this 'Eren' snapping out of it. "Come on! Snap the hell out of it! We've got a breach to seal up!"

"We've failed." The feminine voice had caught Sakura off guard for a moment. Turning she saw the almost silver haired woman loading a gun. She stood up, covering one ear as she bent her arm straight up before pulling the trigger. Watching the red flare, the pink haired woman wondered if that was a signal for help. She also wondered if maybe she should use a stronger genjutsu on top of the one she has now.

"Eren!" She plead. "Listen to me! You're human!"

The fist was now starting to spasm from being so tight. The man, who she assumed in charge finally seemed to take notice. He jumped lightly and gasped as he put it together.

"Get out of there!"

Ackerman, using the leverage in his nose jumped back and off of him just in time. His fist that was racing towards where she had been made contact with his face. Concaving itself in, with bits of meat and blood splashing off in a red mist behind him. A grunt of pain emitting through its throat. Both hands and now face billowing with steam as the creature stumbled back. Falling into a sitting position against a large boulder that had been behind it.

The group stared for a few seconds in silence. Different feelings reaching out from each one. Between concern to horror to regret and anger.

"What the hell?" The man spoke up.

"You're telling me the kid was a regular titan all along?" The brunette man spoke up from behind him.

"Eren!"

"Captain!" Said another man coming up from a different roof. Sakura could feel her heart bleed from the black haired woman's concern.

"We got two titans bearing down on us from the front. A ten meter and a six meter!" She heard a gasp from said captain. "Heads up! There's a twelve meter closing in on us from the rear!"

She turned to see what a,'titan' was. Following the directions the man called out she saw other sized creatures similar to the one near her. These ones had wicked faces, not as dangerous looking as the one called 'Eren', but had a chilling factor on each of them. They seemed to be wandering closer like the man said. As she was looking about she noticed more people had been standing on the roofs. It was good they all were civilian level.

"Ian," the brunette man standing by him pleaded, "that's it. Please."

He turned his body towards Eren. The captain following his movement. "Just look at him. We need to get out of here, the plan's a bust."

"Agreed." The silver hair woman spoke up. "Full withdrawal. We have to leave him as he is."

She saw the defiance in her stance, the way her back tightened. Sakura watched as Ackerman turned towards the group, her teeth clenching and she didn't hide her disdain for what they said. Green eyes looked on with pity, she knew exactly what this woman is going through. She hoped this was over protecting a friend like she believed the situation to be.

Ian, the captain, flinched when he saw the look in Ackerman's eyes. The pure determination. He seemed to look away in shame.

She watched as they slowly gathered around the man. Waiting for him to speak. Sakura took the time to put the situation she was in together. Over the years of mastering techniques under Tsunade-shishou her chakra capacity had increased. Her chakra still almost near full even with a high level genjutsu cast over herself. Nothing around her seemed familiar from neither memory or learning. No books or scrolls have mentioned towering men creatures. Nothing talking about civilians using gear to fling themselves around. She's seen that with snow country ninjas before but they needed chakra. These were powered somehow else.

She realized she was stuck in the middle of some outbreak. From the way they had said a breach, to the way they described the creatures like this was a normal occasion. Yes they still had fear but they had plans, it seemed to fend them off. She considered getting herself involved but from the looks of it, this was a civilian town or village. She couldn't spot any regular chakras of ninja levels. She didn't want to mention how one corner seemed to have a large haze of the grey chakra/aura. A large group of the 'Titans' as these people called them. Who knows what might happen if she involves herself. Leaning back on her heels she turned back over the the group she was watching. She noticed how the one man started to become agitated before he finally spoke.

"Ian! Snap out of it!" He took a step closer to the other man. "What are you waiting for?! Give the order!" Throwing his hands in front of him, he was panicking. "Conserve all the man power we can. This was the right call. Hey, it's not this is your fault! Come on! Look this plan was doomed to fail from the start! We all get that! Was it worth a shot? Sure, whatever!"

Their captain was looking down, solemnly, as the man continued. "We did the best with what we had! But all we've got left now is going back over the wall."

Ackerman looked up at him suddenly as he said that. With his back towards her, he couldn't see the anger in her eyes. She pulled two swords out and lifted them. Growing angry in her steps she went forward to go at the man, only to be stopped by their captain. With his arm thrown out in front of her.

"Stop." Hearing the captains voice the man turned around to the sight. "Easy. Now's not the time."

Ian, setting his face straight turned his gaze to the other man and the light blonde woman in front of him.

"Team Rico, take out the twelve meter approaching from behind." The two had faces set in shock. "Team Mitabi and I will handle the two front runners."

"Are you nuts?!" The woman stepped forward, her face full of shock still along with anger.

"In case you've forgotten, I'm the one in charge. Now do as you're ordered, soldier!" He paused, putting his arm down. "We are not leaving Jaeger defenseless, period."

The woman jumped slightly at his statement. He took a sec to look at her face before continuing.

"Change of plans. Our job is now to keep the others off him until he can be recovered." Turning to look at Eren, "Whether we like it or not, he's still our last best chance. We won't abandon him easily. We're expendable, he isn't. He can't just be replaced."

"He's a failure who's caused countless soldiers to die." Her face still set anger and shock. "Just look at him, Ian! Are you saying you want more of us to die saving that?!"

"That's right! Down to the last man!" He set his face with determination. "If that's what it takes, so be it!"

The two looked at him as they gasped. Their mouths wide open as they could do nothing but stare. Sakura has seen a fair share of soldiers in her life, she knows the kind they seem to be. That when it gets tough, they'd rather have the easy way out. Peering at the young black haired woman she felt a small sense of pride for the stranger. She was struggling to hold down her want to assist them. If she gets caught up in some political storm or even a war of someone else's how long might it take her to find her boys? Or maybe they would come to rescue her once again. She didn't hold them coming to save her against them any more. She realized a long time ago those two are in a league of their own. But, she didn't feel like she was watching their backs at the same time. She was a balance that they've admitted they need in their lives.

"Ian," the woman started up again, "you can't be serious!"

"What other hope against the Titans do we have? Do you know something I don't?! This is all we got and you damn well know it! I am making a judgement call here! If you have a better plan, speak up!" He beat his chest with his left fist as he said the last two words. "How else are we supposed to get out from under their feet? I am making a judgement call here. If you have a better plan, speak up."

"If you're asking me how else we'll defeat the titans, obviously I have no idea." She looked at him solemnly.

"See? That's why we can't afford to beat a retreat. Not just yet." He spoke a little more calm seeing her reaction. "We may not know what else is in there, but there's hope. As long as that's the case, we're going to fight till the bitter end."

He sighed. "Look at us. Always scraping by. Always on the run. Don't you... don't you want it to be over? Don't you want to make a stand? Well this is how it's done."

Ackerman looked up at him proudly, he took the stand he needed. The other two looked on while biting their tongues. They didn't look pleased.

"This is just... this is just madness." Behind her glasses the light haired woman's eyes narrowed. She turned around and started to walk away.

"Hey!" Their captain called after her.

"I'll follow your strategy, I think you're right." She turned her head to look at him, eyes still narrowed. "If we're to stand, this is the only way. Just this once, lets fight a fight that's not just a battle of attrition. Let the bastards taste humanity's wrath. Right, my team will address the twelve meter coming from the rear." She walked away. The other man followed her actions, except walking the opposite way.

"Well, we've got the two in the front don't we?"

"Right." The captain agreed with apprehension. He didn't move right away and the black hair woman walked towards him.

"Thank you, captain. That was brave."

"No, it wasn't. There's no thanks needed. Fact of the matter is I was petrified of the mess you were about to get into." He pulled out one of his swords. "But you're fine now. So do your thing. Make good use of that inborn skill."

"Yes, sir."

"Go save the man you love."

"It's not like that." The young woman blushed, burying her chin into her red scarf. Her eyes were a little wide, looking downwards towards the roof they were on. Only looking up when she heard the sound of him running. She watched as he jumped off the roof. She turned back towards the creature and seemed to be lost in thought. Eventually coming to an decision, she moved across the rooftops.

Sakura noticed how most the soldiers around them had followed out the two teams. Standing, she made her way closer to the two of interest. She got a better look the closer she got. Eren, what they kept calling this creature is apparently different yet the same as the Titans. His face was still smashed in, the steam rolling out from an open skull. Skin, tissue, skull and muscle all visible to the eye. It was the medic in her that kept her from being revolted. Sure, she's seen her fair share of injuries and have revived most of her patients, but this was something new.

Falling in love with a monster. It's ironic how this is where she got thrown into a war. That's part of her past but she still has all those first hand experiences, even if her old love might have turned into just brotherly.

She saw the flicker of motion off out of her peripheral. Turning, she saw a blonde blob coming closer. He got just a building or two away, his heavy breathing and face full of confusion and concern.

"Eren?" He took a breathe. "Come on, what are you doing? Wake up!"

He moved over to the unconscious body by the rock.

Her green eyes peered at the boy. Another trio too...life wasn't going to give her a break. She saw in the background the two teams attempting to fend off the Titans. One managing to climb on one of the roofs. She could see it was getting ready to pounce in Eren's direction. Her hair stood up as she saw its creepy mouth open and it struggled to get good footing.

She saw a few of the people turn, following their gaze. More Titans. Four more to be exact, she also noticed they came through a gap in the wall. That must be the breach they were mentioning earlier. Dispelling her genjutsu, she decided she would defend the body in front of her. Konoha was prideful, not from power, but from the will of fire. Seeing others in distress was not something most Konoha shinobi would just walk by. Especially not a member of team 7.

She didn't move from her spot on the roof though. Her cloak made her blend in somewhat with its creme color. She had seen Ackerman coming up to get the Titan that was close to springing. The black haired woman stood on top of the dead monster after cutting just the back of its nape. Sakura was going to make a mental note of that weak spot.

"Mikasa!" The blonde hair boy called up. "Why did the plan go belly up?"

"Armin?!"

"Why on earth is he just slumped here like this?" He gestured to the giant he was standing on.

"Get away! It's dangerous!" Ackerman called out to him. "Something went wrong. He lost control and wound up like that! I tried to snap him out of it but I couldn't get him to respond. He's been out like this for the past few minutes!"

"But the plan?"

"We've had to shift tact. Right now all we can do is protect him. He's defenseless and there's... there's just so many of them. I don't know how much longer we can keep this up."

He gasped as he listened to her. Then he narrowed his blue eyes, he looked like he wasn't about to give up either. He turned around and drew out a sword.

"One meter high and ten centimeters across."

"Armin?!"

"I'm pulling him out of there! You just hold off the other titans as long as you can!"

"But..." She looked scared and lost for a moment.

"When Eren first emerged from his first form, it was from the weak spot." He stepped closer to the nape. He shot his lines to hook along the sides of the body and anchor himself. Swords raised as he spoke. "I don't know. But something tells me it's a big part of the picture. How these damn things work, it'll all be alright. As long as I don't hit the centre. This won't kill him but it's going to hurt him."

"Armin! No!" But her cry was ignored and he hit his mark with his blades.

The creature let out a yell of pain, bucking and twitching from it. The movement flinging the blonde around but with the sword, and anchors in place he managed to stay where he was at.

"Armin! You'll get yourself killed!" Ackerman was yelling from her spot on the roof.

"I'm fine! Just do what you can to keep the rest at bay!" He yelled right back at her. "Trust me, there are tons of other people you should be worried about! Now leave and go do what you do best!"

Mikasa looked on torn between leaving and staying. She turned and huffed out as she ran away. Obviously angry at her choice.

"Eren! Can you hear me?" The boy was struggling to move from where he had a hold on his blades. "You've got to pull it together! If you stay like this, we're all going to die! Whatever this body is doing to you, you gotta fight it! You're Eren Jaeger, damn it! What's this steaming hunk of flesh got on you, huh?"

Sakura watched as the boy kept talking. Trying to bring his friend forth. Her heart couldn't take it anymore, she wants to help. Help mend a few more hearts, maybe save some lives, but more importantly she doesn't want to watch a different team 7.

Jumping down from the building, her cloak billowing around her with the wisps of air. She's silent, not surprised when he didn't take notice of her moving closer. When she got closer she realized she really couldn't be much older than him. Rather than spook him she decided to call out by the feet of titan before her.

"Excuse me!" Her voice was soft but loud. He jumped at the sound, looking at her wide eyes as he gripped onto the sword tighter. She realized even covered she stood out pretty well compared to how they dressed. "Don't give up! You need to get through to him! If I'm understanding this right, you must know him better than most. Your friendship and his will, it'll help you through these tough times!"

He didn't look like he trusted her or her words a single bit. But then determination came through his eyes, they never left her face as he started to yell louder at Eren. Banging onto the titan body underneath of him.

"Come on. Damn it! Wake up! Get out of there! We need you, Eren!" He took deep breathes as he continued. His eyes shifting away from her as he spoke. "Your mom, remember? Remember what they did to her? You're bent on avenging her death! You swore to massacre the titans!"

She jumped up next to him. He leaned back wide eyed and frightened.

"Who are you?" He was shaking lightly.

"I'm Sakura." She bent down to be closer to his laying position. "That's not important at this moment. I want to help. And right now I'm telling you, you need to keep pushing for him. Don't stop. I'll protect you if anything gets past your friend, but please, don't stop fighting for him."

He looked at her, confused and very weary. Gripping his hands tighter he started to hit the titans body until he's hands turned red.

"Eren! Eren, please! You have to push through this! I know you're in there! Listen to me! If you don't get a move on, the titans are going to kill us! It'll all end right here!"

She stood up as she heard the screams of death around her. Pulling out a kunai she gripped it under her cloak. She didn't carry a tanto like Sasuke, but she could extend a chakra scalpel into a blade if need be. The cries were further away, the teams are doing their job and holding them back. Hearing mumbling she looked down at the crestfallen boy.

"Eren...Eren...Eren...please...Remember when we were kids? All we talked about was the world outside. Frozen tundras that stretch to the skies. Sand dunes, oceans, and forests. The world my parents wanted to see. I'd always thought you'd outgrown that dream. I was kind of sad it didn't come up. But then you let it go because you didn't want me to join the scouts. Tell me honestly. Even though your first step beyond the wall meant the hell on earth. Gambling against the possibility of dying like my parents? Why? Why throw caution to the wind and venture outside?"

A few seconds went by before the titan shook a bit. She grabbed unto Armin's shoulders and held him in place, her sticking to Eren with chakra laced feet. Steam erupted from both his hands and face. Peering over his back she noticed the tissue of his hands forming back together. She realized the steam meant healing.

"Can you detach yourself from his back?" She spoke lightly to the blonde boy. He looked up at her, filled with suspicion. But nodded at her. The grappling hooks released, and using her for balance he pulled the sword out also. Eren was start to shift more, she wasn't too worried though. Wanting to move quicker than the speeds she seen, she understand it's civilians with machines but still, she could move faster in her sleep. Without warning him, she scooped him up. Princess style. He let out a light holler, eyes wide again. Honestly he was really light. She has gotten past people commenting her inhumane strength a long time ago, but it still gives her mirth.

Jumping down with him to the ground, she gently placed him. He couldn't scramble away from her sooner. He looked at her, and seemed scared. He was trying to hide it, but his shaking and facial expressions were giving him away. Armin ignored the groaning titan for a minute to examine her. Locking his baby blue eyes with where he saw slits in her mask.

"Are...are you like Eren?"

"What do you mean?" Tilting her head slightly to show her confusion.

"A, um, a shifter?"

"I'm assuming you mean if I can turn into a...titan?" He nodded. "No, I can't. Today is my first time seeing such creatures."

"First time..?" He took another chance to look her up and down. Not like He would be able to see much. She's 5'2, covered in a cloak and mask, the only thing visible besides those two are her black high heel boots. "You're not from in the walls?"

"No, I'm from Konoha." She slumped forward when he gave a perplexed look. Of course. Having a feeling no one would of heard of such place, with the theory running in her head.

"I want to help you, Armin." Blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I might not be from this place. I don't think now would be the best time to explain how I got here either. But if this was my village, or my friend, I would fight for it just the same as you are. I have in the past."

"Forgive me," mulling over what she said, "the people in these walls are not trusting."

"I understand."

"Especially when they find out there's a human that can move like you do." There was that suspicious stare again from his narrowed blue eyes. "How do you do that? Do you have ODM gear?"

"If that's the machine you have, I don't." Lifting her arms, Sakura spread her cloak open. Showing him her petite body with no gear except for her sash and kunai pouch. He blushed lightly when he noticed her bare legs. "As for how, I am a shinobi. A medical one at that. I can tell your friend is about to stand in a few seconds."

"Shinobi? What is-" At the mention of the word friend, he turned around as quick as he could. Armin took in the sight of his best friend starting to stand.

"Eren! You did it!" His small smile showing his relief. "Thank god, you did it."

Eren stare down at the boulder. His finger tips almost finished healing. With a large groan, the titan began to lift the boulder. He was struggling to get it up but slowly but surely he was. Steam was pouring out from his whole body. Her green eyes widened as she figured out why. His body is under so much weight he's literally being crushed every second. Only to be healing himself at the same time. Finally with the boulder on his shoulders he took a step. It was one that shook the ground and every building around them. Sounding almost like a small explosion. Each step felt agonizingly slow but each had the same impact.

"Armin."

Said boy looked over at the hooded figure.

"I'm going to follow you to make sure you two stay safe." Reaching both her hands in front of her to do her hand signs. "This is going to be strange for you. Please don't freak out."

**————————————————————————**

So this is my first story guys! I'm trying to keep her low key on how many people actually meet her or see her. Honestly don't know what I'm doing, this is how I'm just going to be spending time when I'm bored.

So I don't own either series! (Naruto/SNK)

She's gonna be decent at fighting and healing, sorry I'm all about her and thought they did her some injustice. I do want her to be more civil and polite than they make her out to be sometimes!


	3. Easement

_"Armin."_

_Said boy looked over at the hooded figure. _

_"I'm going to follow you to make sure you two stay safe." Reaching bother her hands in front of her to do her hand signs. "This is going to be strange for you. Please don't freak out."_

Blue eyes widened as he jumped back from where he stood. He felt like he had blinked and she had just disappeared from sight. Frantically spinning around trying to find her. Letting out a loud yelp when he felt something grab his shoulder.

"It's just me!" Her hands were up in a easing manner even though the blonde couldn't see her. "Just a genjutsu. It's okay!"

"I-I um...I don't understand..." Did he die, or something? Was this all just a dream. No, no it wasn't. When he reached out to where the feminine voice was coming from, he could definitely feel her cloak. He felt the fabric in between his fingers as he just stared.

This was not a person to trust. But, at the same time, this could be another hope. Sure, Eren has terrified him when he shown his ability. But this was on a level next to his. The woman turned invisible for Maria's sake! She had shown him she was able to lift weight no problem. Jump from heights with no gear and manage to not even sweat a bullet! It had his mind wondering, how long was she watching them? Why was she here? Was she an enemy, or was she an ally?

The loud stomping from Eren drew his attention. Blue eyes narrowed with determination. He had to focus on the breach first and foremost. Turning towards the woman, or where he believed she was at, he spoke with urgency.

"If you really are going to help." He took his gamble. "You gotta follow us to the breach."

Running to get ahead of the boulder carrying titan, he didn't wait for her answer. Her voice carried from the side of him, gaining his attention.

"What caused the breach in the wall?"

"The Colossal titan. It kicked the gate right in."

"So you guys made the decision to use the boulder to fill it?"

"Well," he couldn't hide the concern and confusion lacing his voice, " it wasn't a plan until Eren's ability was shown. He was never able to...become a titan before. Commander Pixis took this chance for plan."

She hummed in response. Looking up at said boy/creature she thought about her best friend. He didn't have any control until years of practice and forming a bond with the Fox. If this was anything like a tailed beast the boy will be struggling to control himself for a while.

They were getting closer now to where the two teams from earlier were fighting. Green eyes glanced around to see they were being over whelmed. The numbers were down some, maybe by a quarter to half. Titans were wondering in from the breach and all near it. She saw them turning their heads to the thumping Eren was causing, his billowing steam an easy way to find him.

"Mikasa! The blonde boy yelled from next to her. He took to the air with his gear, swinging till he got to the black haired female. Sakura stayed on the ground level, staying ahead of Eren.

"Armin!" Relieved to see He was okay, she turned towards the blonde who had yelled her name.

"He came out of it somehow! He's determined to see the mission till the end!" He pointedly added on. "As long as we've got his back till he heads for the wall, victory will be ours!"

Ian, with his face drained of color, stood behind Ackerman. His eyes locking with Armin's as he thought over what the younger man said.

"Defend him!" He suddenly proclaimed. The soldiers under his command turning towards him. "Till the last man, if that's what it comes to! Eren must reach the gate! I don't want a single titan anywhere near him!" He turned towards Armin and Mikasa. "The both of you, go! I want you with Eren immediately. Hop to it, soldiers! That's an order!"

Both of them nodded at him. Dark grey eyes and blue shining with pride.

"Sir, yes sir!" They spoke in unison.

The captain turned as he heard yelling. Running to the edge of the roof as he watched titans ahead of the one team. They were getting closer, the titans almost ignoring them completely.

"What are you doing?!"

"The ugly son-of-a-bitches have lost all interest in us!" An older man was yelling from the road behind the titans. "We need to get close enough to draw their attention!"

"Hey, big guy, over here!" Another man yelled.

"You're walking away?!" The first man hollered next to him. "Maybe you want us to shove our blades right up your asses!"

The titans paused in their path. Taking a second to turn and stare down the humans. Their eyes gleaming with what could only be thought to be the horror of what was to come. The men on the ground started to shake with fear. This was their plan, they knew what would happen if they got close like they did. It didn't stop them from being scared out of their minds though.

"It worked! We got two of them!" A soldier spoke up as two of the titans started to creep towards them.

"Run!" They all followed his command. "Make a bee-line for the buildings!"

"They're insane!" Ian, looking on with horror could do nothing but.

"Setting foot down there is suicide!" The blonde could only add in. "If they get cornered down there, there'll be nothing they can do!"

"Yeah..I know." The captain looked on with a grim expression. "Let's move out. Everyone, follow team Mitabi!"

Him and the others began jumping down the roof to land on the road. Running as hard as the could to catch up.

"Armin." Drawing his attention he looked at the black haired woman. "Come on. We need to go."

He nodded following the direction she started to go in.

Sakura was still ahead of Eren. She was watching everything unfold. So far nothing had gotten close enough to the boulder carrying titan for her to act on. She wanted to hold back and let the teams do what they needed to. She also just wouldn't sit on the side.

That's when she finally got a look at those running on the ground like her. Titans jumping after them, cause rubble and dust to spurt up in the air. They grabbed at those pacing around them, waiting to get any in there hands. She wanted to help, but she had to focus on protecting the titan behind her. No surprises, not now.

Ignoring the heavy breathing from Eren. She watched the soldiers lure the creatures out of his path. Slowly he was getting closer. Movement caught her eye, the blonde and black haired duo. They jumped down by where she was. The blonde looking around slightly before focusing on Eren. Ackerman putting her full focus on him. After a few seconds of staring they turned their bodies to start heading towards the breach.

"Hey! What's the matter?!" A soldier was distracting titans and trying to move them away from the path.

As he started to run he didn't see the other titans hand reaching out for him. Sakura's eyes widened as she watched the man's body get caught in the large hand. His yelp turned into mortified screaming as the monster opened its mouth. Bringing its hand closer. The soldier, still screaming had tears running down his face. All it took was about two seconds for the monster to chomp his teeth over his shoulders and head. Blood spurting as his body was torn apart from the bite. The titan smiling as it swallowed its mouth full. The limp body dangling in its grasp.

She heard another yell. She felt her adrenaline rising the more she heard. Whipping her head to see another man try to yell out to the titans. His yelling was gaining attention from them, but also from one unseen behind him. She clenched her teeth to stop herself from warning him. The large hand that smacked down his body, flattening it to the ground came in a heart beat. She looked away after seeing the impact of blood and tissue. These monsters were cruel. It was a nightmare. How could anyone survive here with sanity. Sakura felt lost here. She didn't have any plans to ensure these people will be okay.

Looking at the other female running along side of her, she kept her mouth sealed. Even with a genjutsu over herself, she felt comfort knowing there was a literal mask in place. Something to help her keep her distance. She needed to keep her cool, for her sake and for others.

Mikasa and Armin continued running by her. They were trying their best to focus on the path ahead and not what's around them. Did the notice the titan with a person clutched in both hands? One of the body's squeezed and oozing over the large fingers? Another monster carrying a single female soldier, who was still alive? Her gasps of horror and fear as one arm and one leg were held in two separate hands? Ready to be torn apart like a piece of candy?

They did turn to look at Ian, their current captain. He was holding the mouth of a titan open as he was yanking another soldier out of it. He had a death wish for others to live. Mikasa's eyes widened as the titans hand pushed the captain into its closing mouth. He was on his back laying, Just his head peeking out from its teeth. He was looking straight at them, mouthing a final statement. The jaws clenched closed as his head was severed. Smacking into the ground and rolling slightly. They kept running, not stopping once. His words seemed to edge the two to push themselves and not look back.

"For humanity!"

They made it unto the wooden structure surrounding the breach. Feet making light padding noises that were easily covered by titans foot steps behind them. It looked like trenches or traps to catch animals, Sakura noted. The titans seemed to have different levels of brains, seeing as some were stuck in the spikes. Looking up they realized there was only one obstructing their path.

"There still one ahead of us!" Armin yelled out.

"I'll take care of it!" His partner proclaimed. Both with their swords drawn, Mikasa took the lead. Looking up Sakura noticed the female, Rico, coming at a fast pace. The other two not taking notice until she was hollering at them.

"Out of the way!" She managed to land on its face, cutting its left eye in half. The light haired woman was pulled back by her gear as the monster groaned in pain. Attempting to reach up to where she had been.

Ackerman avoided the hand that had slammed down into the ground. Flinging herself behind it in a circular path with her hooks. Using her momentum, she was flying in the air towards its neck. Cutting deep across the neck with both blades. She paused to watch it slump forward slightly. Eren, never once stopping, continued towards the hole in the wall. Hidden next to Armin, she could see his unshed tears.

"Go!" His voice was laced with desperation. He was trying to make it as loud and full of emotion as he could.

With a scream of his own, Eren wound back his arms. The boulder hitting its mark against the wall, causing the wall to creek and slightly crumble around the blockage. The loud smack sounding like an explosion. Debris and dust flying from the amount of pressure behind the push. His body slumping down against the boulder. Everyone that was nearby stood stunned, not believing it actually happened.

Armin stood with an open mouth and wide eyes, as Mikasa just stood in wonder. Rico falling to her knees. Her eyes glistening as she whispered in mourning to her comrades that have passed.

Sakura watched as she pulled out the flare gun again. Standing silent and impossible to see by the naked eye. The distressed woman, loaded it, lifting it to the air once again like before. Her tears running down her face as she pulled the trigger. The yellow smoke flew high into the sky leaving its trail.

"Today we made history." The woman uttered. "This day belongs to humanity!"

Her medic eyes strained to the titans body as she watched Armin climb up him. It was steaming all over yet this time slowly degrading. She stared in wonder as to how they would move his whole body while he's unconscious. Glancing away she took note of approaching titans. Rico, pulling herself out of her stupor was taking notice also. She watched as they made their way towards them. They were venerable down here. All of them knew this.

"Mind the stragglers, Ackerman! Pull back!" The light haired woman's voice reaching all their ears.

"With all due respect," Mikasa's voice turned sharp, "I'm not withdrawing until I recover Eren!"

She turned and ran towards the creature. Looking up to the blonde.

"Armin?" Voiced with concern. "How is he?"

Taking a better look Sakura realized he was pulling on a body. So it was almost like a shell not a transformation to the boy. She was curious and mortified at the same time.

"Unconscious!" He was straining with how he was gripping onto the other boys body. "He's scorching hot to the touch! There we go! We have to get him up the wall!"

The two woman jumped up to where the boys were. Sakura keeping away on ground as she stared at the incoming titans.

"Uh-oh. Damnit! He's fused to the carcass! I can't work him free!" The blonde was struggling, trying his hardest to still pull.

"Then we cut." Her eyes solemn behind her glasses. Ackerman gasping at her words.

"Wait!" She plead. "We don't know what that might do!"

Ignoring her words the grey haired female slashed her swords against the boys body. Not aiming at his limbs, but cutting the extra tissue and skin attached to him. The sudden release of tension sent Armin and Eren backwards. Letting out a small yelp Armin clutched onto him as they went over the back of the titan. Looking up at the yelp Sakura saw what was happening. Hopping close she caught them mid air and landed them gently the ground. She didn't keep her eyes on them as she focused at the titans getting closer. Armin gasped at the feeling of someone grabbing him and not him hitting the hard floor. Putting two and two together he realized who had a hold of him.

"Sakura?" Attempting to look at her face but not being able to, instead just looked at Eren. The boy was out cold and limp in both their arms. Sakura's fingers twitched on him, causing him to look up at her again. He blinked in shock when he realized he was staring at her mask and cloak. Face set forward and not once looking down his way. Following her sight he soon figured out what had her attention.

Two titans, one with a disfigured mouth and taller one staring right at them. His blue eyes pin pointing in fear. He felt her start to rise, somewhat letting go of her hold on them. When she suddenly stopped and looked up into the sky. He tried to follow her gaze, but he couldn't see anything. He just felt scare at the sight of the two titans. He wanted to keep watching them.

"Eren! Armin!" He couldn't tell if the two women on Erens titan body could see them. Or it was just their reaction to the two titans and them being on the floor.

Dark green eyes opened to the yelp from Mikasa. Just in time to see a green blur rushing and spinning around two titans above him. He couldn't move as he watched. Armin, shocked to see someone who was even faster than his female friend gliding through the air. So fast that he couldn't even see the person. Both the titans started to fall over, obviously killed by the precise soldier who was just on them. Their bodies hitting the floor with a loud thud.

Eren looked forward, trying to see past the dust. On top of him Armin looked away from the dust to look back at the one holding the two of them. She had disappeared from sight once again. He could still feel her holding on, and being this close could smell the vanilla fragrance coming off of her. As the dust was starting to clear he heard Eren gasp under him. Following his view he saw the man standing on top of the corpse. His back was to them, his green cape floating with the wind.

Wings of freedom.

Mikasa jumped down next to the two. He felt Sakura pull back from the both of them slowly. It seemed Eren didn't notice her presence at all or even her touch. His green eyes focused solely on the man in front of them.

"Who is that?" Ackerman could only mumble to them.

Said man they were speaking of, turned his head in their direction. His half lidded eyes resembling Kakashis. His aloof expression and pitch black hair reminding her of Sasuke.

"Pay attention, kiddos." His deep voice reaches their ears. "This is the part where you explain to me exactly what it is I'm looking at."

Light green eyes looked up to the shell of a body he was talking about. Her eyes widened slightly as she realized the body degraded at an extreme speed. Most of the body was now nothing but bones while some of it still have meat and tissue. She was fascinated, sure, but deeply disturbed by it. She took a few steps back from the group. Her genjutsu went back up the second he was slashing the titans. Whoever he was, his speed was amazing compared to most the civilians she had seen. Not fast enough to where she couldn't see his movements or notice him coming. The other two women and Eren didn't seem to have noticed her for those few brief seconds she was visible. Thankful that Armin wasn't mentioning her or making gestures that she was around. They all seemed to have kept their focus on the man talking to them.

They were giving their stories to him. How Eren could shift into a titan, how he had used his form to block to entrance. How the colossal titan had kicked in the gate. They never mentioned the number of casualties or how they died.

Eren had seemed to pass back out at this time. They had moved to collect him as more people gathered. Armin and Mikasa were upset with the notion but couldn't fight the one commander who had appeared. Erwin. They were forced to follow, to make sworn statements of complete detail of what had happened. Following at a distance she realized that they were going to seperated Eren from everyone. They were calling it temporary hold, it was like being placed in a prison cell. They had seperated from the younger soldiers, not allowing them to follow Jaegers imprisonment. Sakura has followed them through a courthouse, down to the basement of the building.

Her heart was bleeding once again as she saw them shackle him to the bed. The iron barred door closed and there stood two guards in front of it. As she moved around she memorized the lay out of the whole building. Never once being seen or heard. It was almost the easiest mission in the world, if she could think of it like one. Civilians didn't even notice shinobi that hid in plain sight let alone ones under a genjutsu. As she wandered she over heard soldiers and civilians talking about the recovery of the town.

Afterwards to the incident, thanks to coordinated efforts of the scout regiment, the garrison regiment and the corps of engineers, wall rose once against stood as a bulwark against the titan hordes. It was a full days work dispatching the titans who remained corralled within Trost's perimeter. During which, the wall mounted cannons fired ceaselessly. Most of the titans nearest the wall were wiped out by explosive shells. The few that remained once the smoke cleared were summarily cut down by the scout regiment. During the so called clean up operation, two titans, a four meter and a seven meter, were captured alive and successfully restrained.

However, all told, 207 people were either dead or missing and 897 were counted among the injured. So while reclamation of Trost represented the first true victory for humanity in its fight against the titans, too many soldiers had fallen for celebration to be in order.

Pulled out from her thoughts she saw the two men walking together. The tall blonde with eyebrows on par with Rock Lee, and the short empathetic one. Commander Erwin and Captain Levi. Them walking together in the courthouse caught onto her curiosity. Following them down the halls she realized they didn't speak. Going up to the guards at the door for the basement they spoke in low tones. Opening up, they were gestured to go inside. She followed effortlessly, making her way down the stairs into the dark basement. As they kept walking she wasn't surprised when they stopped and Jaegers cell.

Eren was still passed out in bed, unmoving in front of them, his two personal guards sneering at his body. Erwin took a seat directly across from the cell, Levi leaning against the wall next to him. They waited for the boy to motion awake, him eventually doing so. Through foggy eyes he gasped as he awoken. Staring blankly before wiping the sleep out of his eyes. He blinked a few times before hearing the blonde man speak.

"Any questions?"

"I, I-uh-" Eren didn't know where to start. "Where...where am I?" He looked around, noticing the chains the kept in his dirty and damp call. It was poorly lit, he felt maybe that's why it took him so long to notice that he was locked away like an animal.

"I think that's obvious. Let's just call it a dungeon." The deep calm voice responded to his question. "You're currently in custody of the military police. We were granted permission to see you only just now."

Eren was fidgeting in the chains slightly when movement from Erwin caught his attention. He held up a small key, one that the boy recognized. His eyes opened slightly more with a light breath of air exhaling his mouth.

"Where'd you get that key?" He couldn't help himself, he had to know when they took it from him.

"Off of you. Don't worry, you'll get it back." He held it at eye level and with a stern voice spoke. "Let's talk home. Specifically the good doctor's cellar back in ShiganShina. Pretty big secret in there, right? About the titans?"

"Yes," Eren could only nod at him, "I think so. That's what dad said, anyway."

"It must suck having your dad and your memory missing in action at the same time." Levi's voice sounded bored and distant. "Unless, of course, that's the cover story."

"Enough. We've been over this already. We know he has no reason to lie." The blonde responded calmly as he looked to the other man. "And that's all we know. How about you shed a little light on things for me by telling us your intentions?" He finished while keeping his eyes glued on Erens.

"My what? What do you mean?" He leaned back in surprise at the question.

"Here's the lay of the land, my friend. If we want to pay daddy's cellar a visit, we have to visit back into Shiganshina. Sealing the breach there as we did in Trost would be the smart way to go about it, don't you think? Naturally we'll need your special powers for that. Anyway you slice it, a titan is deciding our fate. It's been conjectured that the colossal titan and armored titan are more or less the same as you. That's why I ask your intentions. They could be the key to turning the tide forever. You could save us."

The key was still being held in the air.

"I don't know what I am." He looked down, his eyes shaking with memories unseen to the others. His grip tightening on the sheets on his bed.

"Come one. It's an easy question. So answer it. " His bored tone had a hint of annoyance in it. "What the hell is it that you want to do?"

Eren was fully shaking in front of them now. Sakura could feel the blood lust seeping out of the boy. It made her hair stand up on the back of her neck. She shifted weight onto her other leg as she stood in place.

"I want to become a member of the scouts and slaughter every titan that crosses my path." He finally said with a held back tone. Well good news is his blood thirst is for titans.

Levi's head lifting up slightly caught her eye. She turned to see a flicker of emotion pass through his almost black eyes before disappearing.

"Huh. Well played." He stepped forward to Eren's cell. "Alright, then. I'll take responsibility for him. Let the higher ups know what's going on with him. Not that I implicitly trust him, of course. It's more a matter of me trusting myself to deal with him. I'll kill him if I have to. The bigwigs aren't likely to raise a stink. My records more than speak for themselves, I'm pretty sure." He paused but kept eye contact.

"Good news Jaeger. You're now officially a member of the scouts."

With that he turned towards Erwin and both had a look of understanding. Getting up, the blonde led the way for the two to leave. They walked by her, not bumping into her and just walking straight ahead. Never once did they look back nor did they talk about anything while they walked. Waiting for the sound of the door that led upstairs to make the closing noise she stared at the young boy. He seemed confused, maybe a little scared from the whole, 'I'll kill you if I have to thing.' His eyes staring down at his hands with them fisted in the sheets.

Hearing the closing of the door, she decided to make her move. Making the appropriate hand signs, she felt the genjutsu hovering around her hands. Walking up to each guard and tapping their head she watched as their eyes dulled, under the effects of her chakra. They stared emotionless, trapped in a positive day dream to their choosing. She stood in front of the cell and dropped her genjutsu.

It took him a minute or two to notice her staring at him. He yelped and jumped back when he noticed the hooded and masked figure staring at him. Her hands shot up in a complacent manner right away and tried to shush him. He quieted, but narrowed his eyes and stared at her with suspicion. He looked down her figure, with her arms up in that attempt to calm him, her cloak had opened slightly. Giving him a peak of her shinobi attire underneath. His eyebrow went up with confusion, he has never seen that uniform before.

"Who are you?" He sat trying to recall if there was a special group that operated with anything resembling her outfit. A mask? No it hinders vision. The cloak? Maybe an some unmarked military police group?

"My name is Sakura Haruno." He blinked. He's never heard that name before. "I know Armin." She stretched the truth.

"Armin?" He sat up with attention. "Is he okay? What about Mikasa?"

"Both are fine. They are at some barracks stationed within the town." She paused for a second. "Are you okay?"

He looked hesitant at her, just giving her a nod in response.

"Who are you with?" Lifting an eyebrow again as he gestured towards her. "I've never seen that uniform before on someone. Are you in a special unit?"

"I'm a kunoichi, from Konohagakure." Reaching up, she grasped the edge of her mask and began to pull it off along with her hood down. "I'm in Anbu, that's our special unit, I would say." With her mask off, finally out of her vision, she brought her eyes back to him.

He just stared. Mouth wide open like he wanted to collect flies. A light blush forming on his cheeks. The small smile she gave him made her look even sweeter. Her large vivid green eyes shining lightly in dark with her long pink hair framing her face. He snapped back to attention realizing what she had said.

"Kunoichi? Konohagakure? Anbu?" He frowned slightly. He didn't know any of those words, they sounded made up to him.

"Like female shinobi. That's my village. And special unit, I guess you could say."

"...shinobi?" He guess the other two made sense but what was with these words she kept using?

"It's a ninja? I know this place is filled with civilians but do you have anyone with higher levels of chakra?"

He just had a blank look as he stared at her. Letting her face drop she let out a sigh.

"I have powers I guess you could call it." He looked at her, still in confusion but also curiosity. "I can control my chakra, which would be like a power source, to create jutsu, or techniques. Like different powers depending on each one."

She tapped her chin in thought on how to make it easier to describe. Looking at one of the guards she smiled and pulled his body in view of Eren. The blank stare on his face caused The boy to frown and look at her with more doubt.

"I put a genjutsu on him. There's many different kinds, like how I use it to be invisible as you could say, or like on him. Right now he's stuck in a dream, and not a bad one! But him and his buddy over there don't have a clue as to what's going on right now. One little word and I can have them back to normal and they won't know a single thing happened."

"Wait..you-you broke in here?!" He raised his voice. She instantly pushed the guard back in place and started waving her arms around to quiet him down.

"I mean no, technically yes," she sighed and looked into his dark green eyes with her pleading light green ones, "I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" Suspicion, doubt, confusion, she's been seeing that a lot in his teams eye when it involves her.

"You and your friends," he glared at her, not even hiding the spark of displeasure at her mentioning them, "now wait a minute. You three remind me of my team."

"Your team?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"How so?"

"You guys fiercely protective of each other." She crossed her arms over her chest. "You three act the same as how mine does together. One who is aloof but will defend either of the other two till death. One who is emotional but will go in harms way for either of them. And the one who has a monster inside of him, but only has thoughts for what's good for those around them."

He had flinched at the word monster but thought of her words. He knew who which one was referring too and obviously he was the monster.

"What...what happened to the one-"

"The one with a monster?" He nodded, unsure of what to say. "We can all admit it took years for him to get control of his. But we don't even call it a monster nowadays." He blinked and gave her his full attention.

"Karuma, is the tailed beast inside of my friend , Naruto." She gave a small smile. "He always had the people in his heart no matter how bad they treated him. He went through hell for all of us. Like I said, it took him years to be able to control Karuma, well his chakra, the two actually are friends now. Neither are looked down on. Naruto is actually the dubbed hero of Konoha."

Her eyes were shining with pride at the thought of the whispered boy. It's only been two or three days but she misses him deeply. Eren had a face of wonder on him, he wasn't showing any displeasure towards her or suspicions. He seemed invested in her talking.

"Where is he?"

"I honestly don't know," she tried not to look as downcast as she felt, "I was separated from them during a mission. When I came to I was here. I kept myself hidden and watched over Mikasa and Armin. You guys just remind me of us way too much for the good of my health."

"I don't remember seeing you?"

"Watch." She put her genjutsu over herself, watching with mirth as his jaw dropped and eyes went wide with shock. Releasing it, she appeared to him again. "I only showed myself to Armin once or twice. Trying to stay low key, as I find myself a way back to my team or home. Staying around here might be my safest bet, though Titans are disgusting creatures might I add. But with nothing but civilians here I'm at my safest."

"We have all the military regiments though."

"They wouldn't stand a chance against me." She stood up straight and looked proud. Only to be deflated by the exasperated look he gave back.

"No offense, um, Sakura. But there's thousands of us. You're also just a short woman with pink hair. I don't think invisibility will defeat a nation."

"I don't want to fight a nation." She huffed and lowered her eyebrows. "I can do more than just that obviously, and it's natural! I can't help either of those two things."

"Huh." He just looked at her for a minute. He had a calm face, no hostility, no suspicion behind him, well maybe he was just good at hiding it.

"So what are you going to do in the mean time? I mean until you find a way back."

She smirked and put her hands on her hips. "I'm going to help you of course."

He responded by giving her a deadpan face, suddenly she couldn't tell if she was being reprimanded by him, or not.


	4. Court

Eren stared at the chains holding onto his wrists. He was starting to panic in this small cell. He wanted to move around, anything to even just stand! Looking up at the guard he tried to give his best pleading look.

"Excuse me! I need to use the toilet..."

"You just went." The Guard seemed to be biting his tongue and didn't even attempt to act civil.

Eren blinked, internally knowing none of this would work, but still wouldn't stop trying.

"Please, give me some water!"

"Hey." The other guards disgusted voice projected out. "Know your place, monster."

Sakura, hidden in the corner of the hall, could do nothing but glare at the soldiers. Not like they could see, her mask was on, hood was up, but she was also invisible to them. Clenching her fist she tried her best to keep her nerves calm.

Eren had seemed resigned and displeased at the fact he was being called a monster, with his eyes casted down to his lap.

Perking up Sakura felt the small civilian signatures ahead, not any that she recognized. The door opened, loud enough for even Eren to hear it. Sakura watched the tall brunette, pony tailed woman walk in calmly. Her glasses glinting from the candle light as she moved. She stopped in front of Erens cell, only to fling herself forward and grip on the bars. He had jumped slightly from the movement but kept quiet. She gave him a smile.

"So, you're Eren, huh?" He just stared at her with a stunned face. "You okay? How are things? I'm sorry you've had to wait so long. But now you have a chance to finally get out. Except..."

Behind her a tall blonde man, one with a big nose appeared. He just stared simply at the young boy, not attempting to speak to him.

"...you'll have to put these on." She held up a pair of chain cuffs, similar to what he was wearing but they were tied together.

They opened the cell door, with the many keys they had. Unlocking Eren from the chains he was in, they had him turn around to place the cuffs on. Then he was allowed to step out into the hallway with them. Once again Sakura following a few steps behind them. As they walked the tall woman became to introduce herself.

"I'm Hange Zoe. A section commander in the scout regiment."

Eren was trying his best to lean away from the man who had gotten close enough to start smelling him. "And this is Miche Zacharius, also a section commander."

"U-um..." Pivoting slightly to the side to try and get away from the man's nose.

"Oh, he always sniffs people like that when it's his first time meeting them." Said man had stepped back and smiled to himself, as if proud over smelling someone. Sakura just watched with disgust from behind them. "He has a habit of laughing through his nose. I doubt he means anything by it. Oddness aside, he is skilled enough to be a section commander."

It was a short few seconds of walking in silence before she started up again.

"Oops!" She whined. "I just prattled on, didn't I? We're already here, but...no it'll be okay. It's actually better if I don't explain."

The door they were standing in front of opened, along with his two guards grabbing at him from either side. Sakura squeezing by them and into the room before they blocked the door. They began to pull Eren in, him attempting to turn to talk to Hange.

"Wa-wait!"

"It's selfish of us, but all we can do is have faith in you. Good luck."

"Huh?!" She shut the door behind him.

Turning forward, he looked up to see the giant painting on the ceiling. It showed a man being stabbed to death, his chest bleeding out as he laid on the floor. Behind him was people fighting with swords. It set the mood of the room itself. He looked around the room, finally noticing how the furniture was, stands filled with people standing on both sides. Not just military, but civilians and the priests also. A large open middle section. It was a court house.

Realizing that this was the place he had been sleeping under he was dazed for a moment. Then a gun barrel to his back pushed him forward.

"Get moving!"

Glaring at the man who just pushed him with the weapon he stood his ground. The other guard now was holding a pole.

"Kneel down!"

Begrudgingly Eren got to his knees. The metal pole was placed in between his arms into a hole in the ground, so that no one held him but he was still contained. He shook his arms seeing how much movement he had, before realizing it wasn't much. He took in everyone's faces, wondering what exactly was going on. Landing on Armin and Mikasa. A door opened and he watched as a older man walked in, his white beard and hair showing his age. He took his jacket off and rolled his sleeves. Sitting in the very front of everyone.

"Shall we begin?"

"You are Eren Jaeger," he adjusted his glasses, "a soldier who has sworn to give his life to the people. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Given the extraordinary circumstances, this deliberation will be held at a court-martial. Regular law will not apply, in other terms. I have all decision making authority, in this matter, which includes determining whether you should live or die."

She could see Mikasa and Armin tense as the man proclaimed the last sentence. Standing off to the next to Eren, she had the best view of all the people in the room.

"Any objections?"

The brunette looked down at the floor. "No, sir."

"You're astuteness is appreciated. I'll get right to the point. As expected concealing your existence is proved impossible. Unless we publicly disclose your existence, in one fashion or another, we risk the outbreak of a new non-titan threat. It falls for me to decide of which regiment is to take charge of you. The military police regiment, or the scout regiment. Now let's hear what the military police regiment proposes."

"Yes, sir." A man spoke up on their right. "I, Nile Dawk, commander of the military police, offer the following proposal. We believe that after a thorough examination of Eren Jaegers body, he should be disposed of, immediately. It's true that his titan ability has helped thwart this latest incursion. However, his existence is now stirring up rebellious ideas as well. As such after he's provided us with as much information as possible, he would be made a fallen warrior of humanity."

Eren couldn't even get to glare at the man before another spoke.

"There's no need!" It was the priest, a very angry one at that. "He is vermin that has defiled and infiltrated the great gods wall! He should be killed at once!"

"Pastor Nick, please remain quiet." Nile spoke up.

"Next let us here the scout regiments proposal." The man in charge spoke again.

"Yes, sir." Erwin spoke up.

"I, Erwin Smith, 13th commander of the scouts regiment, offer the following proposal. We intend to accept Eren as an official member of the scout regiment, and utilize his powers to retake wall Maria. That is all."

"Hmm? That is all?" The old man spoke. Around the rooms murmurs could be heard.

"Yes, sir. With his help we can reclaim wall Maria. I believe it's clear what our outmost priority should be."

"I see." He stared blankly at the blonde. "Tell me, from where would you launch this operation? Pyxis?" He turned to look at said man. "The wall has been completely sealed in the Trost district, correct?"

"Yes." His eyes squinted as he looked up. "I doubt it's gate will ever open again."

"We hope to depart from the Calaneth district to the east." The blonde commander stared straight ahead as he spoke. From there we would approach Shinganshina, by establishing a new route by scratch."

"Just a minute!" A man in average clothes shouted from towards the back. "Shouldn't we be sealing all the gates now? The gates are the only part of the wall the colossal titan can break! If we can just reinforce them, well never be attacked again!"

"Shut up you merchant dog!"

"With a titans help we can return to wall Maria!"

"We can't put up with anymore of your childish heroics!"

"You sure have a big mouth, swine." Levi said lightly.

It caught all the attention of those standing around arguing. They looked at Levi as if he had just yelled his statement.

"What guarantees there, that the titan will be kind enough to wait as we seal the gate? When you say 'we' you mean your friends you'll be protecting so you can fatten yourself up. Are you pigs blind to the people who struggle to survive with what little land is left?"

"I'm just saying that's all we have to do is seal the gates if we all want to live!"

"Hold your tongue you miscreant!" Sakura rolled her eyes as the zealot joined back in. " you would dare suggest that humans meddle with wall rose?! The gift from god?! The wall is divine, it transcends human comprehension!" He continued to argue between him and the merchant.

Two set of green eyes stared as the two men argued. Leaning towards Eren she took the chance to whisper to him. "Do they really worship the wall like a god?" She couldn't imagine a bunch of shinobi acting like that for Konoha's walls.

He jumped, he looked up wide eyed but didn't say anything in her direction. He knew she was probably around the room somewhere with her magic, but didn't realize it'd be right next to him! He knew she was keeping low and wouldn't bring attention her way.

"Order!" The head of all regiments slapped his hand on the desk. " I ask that you save your personal sentiments for another venue. I wish to make certain of something, mr Jaeger. As a soldier, can you continue to serve humanity? By controlling your titan ability?"

"Yes, sir, I can!"

"Oh?" He looked down at the boy on the floor. "But it says here in this report, at the battle of Trost, that right after transforming you swung fists at Mikasa Ackerman."

Eren looked horrified as he glanced over at said woman. She had narrowed her eyes and started to twist a piece of hair in between her fingers. She pointed a glare at the grey haired woman, Rico.

"And who is Mikasa Ackerman?"

"I am, sir."

"You, Huh?" His eyes bore into her. "Is it true that Jaeger, in titan form, attacked you?"

"Yes, it's true." She looked over at Eren, hoping he could see she wasn't mad.

Erens eye went wide, feeling horrible for even the possibility let alone the truth of it happening.

"However..." She added on. "He also saved my life on two different occasions whilst in titan form. The first time I was just about to fall into the hands of a titan, he intervened and protected me. The second time, he protected Armin and me from a bombardment. I ask that you take these facts into consideration as well. "

"Just a minute." Nile spoke, "I do believe her testimony is also driven by personal feelings. It should be noted that Mikasa Ackerman lost her parents at a young age and was taken in by the Jaeger family. What's more is our own investigation into the matter led us to the most surprising discovery." Holding up a report he continued.

"Eren Jaeger And Mikasa Ackerman, at the age of nine, stabbed and killed three adult robber-kidnappers." He paused allowing the people to gasp and soak in the information. "Even if it was self defense, we cannot help but question his basic humanity. Should we really place personnel and funds into his very hands, not to mention the fate of humanity?"

The people were starting to murmur in agreement with the commander. It wasn't good. Some were mentioning how he's always been a titan, he must of snuck in, how he's going to kill everyone. Sakura clenched her fist, these people were getting on her last nerves, it was like listening to the council. One man lifted a finger to point at Mikasa.

"Her too! I bet she's not human at all!"

"Yeah! We should dissect her just to be safe!"

"Hold on!" Eren pulled against his chains. "I might be a monster but she's got nothing to do with this! Nothing at all!" His voice starting to crack with how frantic he was getting.

"Like we believe you!"

"It's the truth!"

"She is one if you have to protect her!"

"No!" He was panicking at this point. They were threatening to hurt her, he didn't know what to do or say at the moment. Pulling as hard as he could forward, everyone could begin to hear the metal creek under him. No normal human would be able to make that noise happen without extreme strength. The room went silent with the echo of it.

"No...it's not like that at all." He kept his head down. "But you're all using speculation to push your own selfish agendas! In fact, none of you have ever seen a titan so why are you so afraid? What's the use of having power if you're not going to fight?! If you're afraid of fighting for your lives, then help me! You...cowards! Just shut up!"

Steam was starting to appear around him. Being so close to him she noticed it before everyone else did. This was not going to go well. He started pulling more of the chains, they were crackling and making more noise as he moved. He leaned back on his knees and shouted as loud as he could.

"Invest everything in me!"

The room sat in silence for a moment, everyone shocked at what they are looking at. The commander of the military police seemed to be scared.

"Take aim!"

"Yes, sir!"

Sakura didn't know what to be more focused on at that moment. On one hand she had a rifle pointed at Eren and on the other a very short captain walking up to him, using the distraction to make his movement see sporadic. She decided he would be the better bet and not to do anything about the rifle man.

She watched as, without saying anything Levi lifted a leg, pulling it back and unleashing it without enough force against Erens face that blood went flying along with his tooth. Barely able to even let out an ,'huh', the man continued his barrage of kicks. She could see Mikasa being held back by Armin in the stands. He wasn't done with the boy yet, going as far as to grab Eren by the hair and to use it to knee his face. Blood was streaming out of his nose and mouth. Putting a boot to his head, the captain finally spoke to the room that was silenced by his actions.

"My personal belief, is that pain is the best tool for teaching discipline. What you need now, is to be taught a lesson, not given a talking-to. And you happen to be in the perfect kicking position.."

She could only wince in silence as he started curb stomping the boy. Unrelenting in speed of power of the kicks. It wasn't until Nile spoke up that he stopped his punishment to the town shifter.

"Wait, Levi."

"Why?" He looked bored at the commander.

"It's dangerous. What if he gets mad and turns into a titan?"

Levi responded by kicking him in the face once more. "Don't be silly." Grabbing the brunettes hair and lowering his face down to his. "You guys we're going to dissect him anyway, aren't you? When he transformed; he managed to kill twenty titans before running out of strength. As an enemy, his intelligence makes him even more dangerous. Even so, I could handle him just fine." He paused and looked at the surrounding crowd.

"But could you?" He said as he kept his position in front of the boy. "Whoever dares to torment him, better think long and hard. Could you actually kill him?"

"Sir, i have a proposition." Erwin raised his hand.

"What is it?"

"Eren's titan abilities contain too many uncertainties, which pose and ever present danger. As such, we will place Eren under Captain Levi's supervision, he will conduct recon missions outside the wall."

"With Eren accompanying you?"

"Yes, sir." He paused. "Based on the results of that mission, you can decide if Eren can control his titan powers or not and if his exist benefits mankind or not."

"Supervising Eren Jaeger, Huh?" The man was thoughtful, rubbing his chin. "Can you do this Levi?"

"I can most definitely kill him. The real problem is that there is no middle ground."

Looking down to the boy near her, she felt her heart clench. He was shaking from the whole situation, whether from being in pain, scared of just some other emotion. Glancing to his teammates she saw they were no better in the emotional department. Mikasa, If looks could kill, would have killed the whole room over multiple times. Armin looked scared out of his mind for the situation that was happening. She narrowed her eyes at the short man. She was going to give him a piece of her man when he was alone. Consequences be damned.

"I've reach my decision." He was started to write down on the papers in front of him. "He goes to the scouts regiment, providing they follow their proposal."

He dismissed the room, many scared to walk by the titan shifter. Walking up to his commander, Levi gestured to the boy. Both walked over, the short of the two releasing Eren from his handcuffs. They started to have him walk behind them, only assisting him if he needed it. Following their steps she noticed while they went down a hall that the brunette, Hange, along with the sniffing man, Miche. was catching up. They turned to the room all filing in.

Hange began to pull out swabs of cotton, attempting to treat Eren. "Man, talk about harsh... I bet it hurts."

"A little." He couldn't help but twitch his eye at the alcohol.

"So, how exactly does it hurt?" She was smiling at him, not sure whether to back away or answer her first.

Miche looked out the window, with a face of concentration of him. Commander Erwin walking up to Eren, who was on the couch with Hange kneeling in front of him.

"I'm sorry about that." He apologized to the young boy. Meanwhile, Levi watched from the opposite side of the room, leaning his back against the wall, staring at them. "But it did get you in our custody."

"Yes..." Eren could only agree with him.

"The pain was worth it." Her eyes narrowed at Erwin. The way he was talking was almost manipulative. "It let us play our trump card when it would be most effective." Kneeling down he put a hand out for the boy to shake. "You have my admiration. Eren, I look forward to working with you." He smiled.

The young boy seemed enameled by the commander reaching out to him like this. Sakura stayed silent as she stood towards the window opposite of Miche.

"R-right! Thank you sir!" He gladly grasped the hand that was given to him. Levi made his way next to Eren, plopping down and throwing one leg over the other. His arm smacking behind the boy making him recoil slightly.

"Tell me, Eren." He started with his always impassive stare.

"Y-Yes?"

"Do you resent me?" He tilted his head to the side as he spoke.

"N-no." Eren could only muster with a pathetic looking attempt for a smile. Giving up he gave a small frown. "I understand it was a necessary performance."

"Good, then." He leaned back and closed his eyes.

"Still, you didn't have to go that far." Hange pipped in. "You knocked his tooth out." Opening up a small hankerchief, there laying innocently was said tooth, with light blood stains on it. "See?"

"Don't pick that up. That's disgusting." Levi narrowed his eyes at her.

"This is a precious sample of its own!" She pouted back at him.

"Eren, be thankful you aren't getting dissected by people like her." Said boy just had a small bit of horror as he stared at his own tooth.

"Don't compare me with them. I would never kill Eren." Turning back to the young brunette. "Hey, Eren, let me see this inside of your mouth."

Instead of just responding, he opened his mouth for her. She looked before pulling back and giving a surprised gasp. Staring at him, she just seemed confused for a moment. Everyone in the room looked over to them.

"The tooth...it's already grown back."

Sakura narrowed at the sick enjoyment the woman had with his injuries. She almost reminded her of a certain silver haired medic. Having enough she dropped her cover, revealing the cloak and mask standing at the opposite window of Miche. The first person to notice was Levi, since he was facing in her direction, his eyes going wide before he jumped up from the couch into a fighting position. Everyone taking notice of his tenseness, also turned and had each a surprised reaction. The only one not very shocked was Eren. Erwin was the first one to speak.

"Who are you?" He had narrowed eyes and was attempting to show his authority to her.

"Sakura. Now, do you mind?" She responded back, keeping her voice even. They seemed confused by what she meant and looked at her with a,'go on.,' urgency. "I'd prefer for her to step away from playing doctor."

"I'd prefer to know how the hell you got in the room without any of us noticing." Levi bit out at her as he saw Hange slowly back away from Eren.

"She's been here the whole time." They turned to look at Miche, her included, how the hell did he know? At her mask pointed at him he looked evenly right at her, lifting a hand to point at his nose. Just how good is his nose?! Erwin seemed to catch on but still would like it to be laid out to everyone.

"If you can explain how this stranger has been here?"

"Vanilla." He made a laugh noise through his nose. She twitched at the thought he had been shoving his nose on her without noticing. Twitching even more so as he made steps towards her, leaning down and inhaling a few times.

"U-um." She took a step back up against the wall. "When exactly-"

"In the dungeon." He smiled at her. "Eren smells as if he's dirt and wood. You smell like vanilla. At first I thought it was a weird mixture down there, but when I smelled him I realized that wasn't just his smell, It was a separate one at that."

"So, don't tell me going through all of this was a waste of time." Levi turned and let his eyes darken as he stared at Eren. Getting pissed off at his accusation, she flash stepped in front of the short man, who was still taller than her of course. His eyes went wide as he thought she damn near teleported in front of him.

"Don't touch him like that ever again." He couldn't look at her eyes to give her the dark glare he was pointing, stupid fucking mask was blocking that. "I understand this first time was with a plan but I won't stand for needless violence. I've only wanted to assist these soldiers. I'm not from here, this place is new with monstrous creatures I've never seen in my life. He only met me in the dungeon once, for how I look he could have just thought it was a dream."

Erwin coughed gaining her attention. Taking a step back from the angry midget, she took the time to look at the Commander.

"I'll ask you the same I did for him then, since you were there that day I presume." She nodded at him slowly. "What is your answer?"

"My intentions you mean."

"Yes."

"Mainly to find my teammates. I'm not from here, I just woke up on one of the roofs during the battle." She turned her head towards the black hair male. " I have all of my memory also. While they are my main goal, I realized there are people that could use assistance here. And be honest, these people are dying left and right, what's one more person on your side?"

"We won't be able to hide you from others. You aren't known to higher ups. It would be strange if you suddenly appeared and as a scout no less." She smirked under her mask, lifting her head up to show him she was looking at his face.

"With all respect, Commander Erwin," he seemed pleased at her tact, "I can hide myself in plain sight perfectly, if i can manage that on three commanders and a captain, let alone a courthouse full, I believe I'll be fine. I'll let you determine if I'm useful to humanity or not, but not determine my life, I'd like to survive long enough to see my teammates once again."

"Back down." He commanded to all of them, all lowering themselves out of a fighting stance. "Levi, can you handle one more?"

"Keep handing me the freaks to baby sit." He narrowed his eyes. "How the hell do you even do that disappearing act?"

She lifted her hands up, instantly vanishing from their sight. Hange was dancing in a sole spot, ecstatic for what she was seeing. Eren looked on, already seeing it and one other trick before, with a straight face. The other three seemed uncomfortable with her not being able to be seen. Coming back into sight, same place and position before she disappeared they just stared.

"I can do more than just that, Commander." Turning around face Hange, who blinked in confusion. Henging into the brunette, the small cloud of smoke dispersing, she left a small chuckle come out. Hange's mouth had dropped to the floor, she heard a gasp from Eren and knew the other three had to be staring at her in shock.

"Sakura!" Hange let out a large squeal. "It's really me! How does it feel to be me?! Your height grew also, your body seems comfortable breathing-"

"Hange. Sakura." Both turned to face him at the same time. He honestly couldn't tell the difference if he hadn't been watching her transform. A puff of white smoke cleared as the shorter female appeared once again.

"If Sakura will work with us," pausing for her confirmation, "Than she will need to be under your supervision also, Levi. We need to keep this just between this group. She needs to move out with your squad to be as far away from others like Eren."

"Captain Levi." He turned his impassive, and definitely some under lying suspicious stare at her. "I will not disrespect you like that again, unless with good judgement. I will not apologize though."

"Good, now I'll have two manageable creatures."

"Sakura, if I may ask?" She nodded at Erwin. "May we see your face? It'll be best to know who we are working with at the least."

Grabbing both mask and hood like she had done the day before for Eren, she slid both off her head. She stared up at Erwin, ignoring the small gasp from the woman next to her. His large eyebrows went up, if he didn't address the elephant in the room in a minute than she will.

"It's natural." She sighed and pouted. Really no one could ever not focus on her head.

"But it's pink." Vivid light green eyes narrowed at the short man near her.

"That doesn't change how it's natural."

"Is the tattoo of any importance, Sakura?" Turning back to her, she guess she could say temporary commander, she nodded.

"This is actually my seal. I have stored chakra in there for emergencies." They all just stared at her blankly. Erwin seemed to close his eyes for a second.

"Levi, or Hange, Either one of you, can send me a personal report explaining this." He just didn't feel like being around for the headache of things being explained.

"Great. Now two of my soldiers are at risk to be abducted by this crazy woman."

The three men seemed to make some type of language just out of the staring contests they had. They didn't seem extremely threatened by her, but she made no mistake to not trust them as much as they trust her. It was obvious she would be under lock and key if they could help it. But she really was at the advantage with her training and abilities. Against a titan, she's not sure yet, she hasn't tried but if these guys could do it then she could do.

"Levi, that was just mean!" The tall woman pouty, feeling under fire for her personality. Training her attention away, she looked the smaller woman up and down. Stopping at her open toe heels first. "How do you not make any noise with those?"

"We train since we are children to be quiet. It's just second hand at this point to be honest." She shrugged. Letting the woman get in her bubble was a difficult thing for her, with trust issues and all, but she'd rather get it done with others to be her witness if the woman goes too far. She felt the woman inspect the inside of the cloak, poking at her sides, reaching around the small woman's waist when she felt hair.

"Is that your hair?" Sakura nodded, finding it would just be easier to take the full cloak off, she unclasped it and held it in her hand. Her long hair reaching down the her waist, the same shade of pink all the way from tips to roots. "Amazing! How does this not get in your way?"

"We don't use gear like you guys, we aren't as restrained."

Eren, moved next to her, realizing just how he was taller than her, she had to peer up into a darker set of green eyes. He looked shy for a moment before he scratched his head and looked at her. Ignoring the brunette woman currently molesting her outfit and body she kept her focus on the boy.

"Eren?"

"Just-...are you going to help us turn the tide for humanity?"

"I'm going to try my best to."


	5. Squad

Emerald eyes shimmered as she gazed at the castle far ahead of them. Walking calmly and hidden by those on horses around her, taking in the sights as they had slowed their pace. They had gathered supplies and left straight from the courthouse to stables. Levi had separated from them to only return with his squad. She had been given rules to stay hidden, away and out of sight from his team unless it was a complete necessity. While they all jumped on their horses, they began to ride off. Sakura running along side them, which was agreed after explaining that she could easily out move the animals. Her captain seemed to just accept anything she said at this point. She perked up as the one older man of the team, Orou, started to speak.

"The old scout regiment headquarters." Pointing a finger up at the old building. "Just as you'd expect from an renovated old castle. It looks fancy and all that sort of thing. But being so far from the wall and river, it wound up being totally useless for the scouts. That was back in the early days, when everyone had high hopes. Still, to think that this oversized decoration would be the perfect holding place for you now..."

Narrowing her eyes, she could only hold back her tongue, even as Eren turned. He looked at Levi with a neutral stare, only to receive a gloomy one in return. Almost as if shocked that he was allowing his team to talk to him, he just turned and focused back on the road ahead. Only the old man wouldn't have it that way.

"Don't get cocky, rookie." He leaned to the side of his horse, to get closer to the younger boy.

"Come again?" Flinching back as the man kept getting closer.

"I dunno if you're a titan or what," he was making his voice grave and accusing, "but don't assume captain Levi's gonna stick with some wet-behind-the-ears brat like-"

Sakura could feel the satisfaction soothe her as the man's horse stumbled on a rock, causing him to bite his tongue mid sentence. Even with the bits of blood flying from his mouth, and Eren's concerned face, she could only just close her eyes and let the small smile appear on her. It's not like anyone could see it, genjutsu or not with her mask.

As they eased closer to the building she knew she wouldn't have to use the genjutsu as much. She would just use them being civilians against them. No one would except her to be hiding or be able to sense people coming up near her. That and they didn't even know she existed in the first place, well besides Levi and Eren.

Levi and two other males on his team split off to survey the building, leaving the old man, the female and Eren together. The other woman watched as Orou sat down, tending to his bite. The ginger's eye seemed to twitch as she stood next to him.

"Talking on a horse is a guaranteed way to bite your tongue."

"First impressions are important. I had that rookie scared stiff." He boasted.

"Actually, I think he was shocked at how dumb you are." Her voice coming out with a drawl.

"Whatever the case, it went exactly as planned." Sakura couldn't help but roll her eyes, this guy was on the supposed best team they had?

"Hey. You didn't use to talk like that, you know?" Raising her eyebrow at the old man. "If, by any chance, you're trying to imitate Captain Levi... could you cut it out. You're nothing like him at all, actually."

"Are you trying to nag me, Petra?" He was starting to sweat lightly. "If you want to act like you're my wife, there's more you need to do first..."

"I wish you had bitten off your tongue and died, bragging all about how many titans you've killed."

"Don't worry. I bragged about you too, while I was at it."

Noticing Eren pause in his work with his horse she looked over at him by the spot she was standing at. He seemed deep in thought staring at the two. She watched the other two of the males walking by. One blonde with a goatee, Eld, the other with black hair and a forgettable face, Gunther. Eren seemed to concentrate on them just as much as he did with the other two. His eyes narrowing after a few seconds.

They had stood around for a few more minutes before Gunther came over to tell them how they were to clean the building. Not moving from her spot, Sakura watched as they all went inside. Moving her emerald eyes to the tree line, she reached out with her chakra. When she felt nothing but the civilian ones by her, she released her breathe. She honestly didn't know how long it would take her to find her teammates. There weren't any clues yet, no damaged areas, no lingering chakras, no summons. Hell, what'd she give to see a frog at this moment. Casting her sad eyes towards the castle, she could only think of different scenarios of what happened, or is happening.

Finally dragging herself out of pity she stepped inside to see the others cleaning. Orou tying a chandelier back together as Petra swept beside him. All wearing ha kerchiefs around their faces, protecting them from dust and dirt. As she kept walking through she eventually found her captain's signature. Going through the door way, she dispelled the genjutsu and watched as he was facing out the window, cleaning it's sill. Taking a moment to see if he would feel her eyes on him, when he didn't show any response she finally let out her voice.

"Captain." He turned around, and blinked once at her before giving an annoyed look.

"Too good or special to clean?"

"No." She put her hands on her hips knowing that, with her faced obscured, he couldn't see her raised eyebrow. "It might be odd for, your team, to see a random stranger to be cleaning the castle you just arrived to."

"Tch. You could have found a way with your magic."

"It's chakra."

"Whatever." He continued his cleaning, facing back out the window. Rolling her eyes to herself, she decided to appease him.

Walking over she grabbed the rag from his hand. Wiping at the surface he was originally invested into. He grunted at her pushiness and just looked at her for a moment. After a few moments she turned so her body was facing him, but she was still cleaning the sill. Using her free hand she pointed at the doorway. He looked over with bored eyes to where she had motioned to.

"Whatever does that mean?"

"You'll have a visitor in about 30 seconds." Resting her arm back to her side, turning to face the window again.

"Shouldn't you attempt to hide?" His eyebrow ticked as she just shrugged.

"It's Eren," stopping her ministrations to the window, "he already knows about me, no point in me hiding from him."

Before he could reply he heard Eren's voice yelling out to him.

"I've finished cleaning upstairs!" The young boy finished saying as he turned into the room. The boy blinked, staring at both people in front of him. She tilted her head and waved at him, wanting to stay friendly with the boy, who in reply weakly returned the gesture.

"Oh, um, where in this facility am I to sleep, sir?" Putting his full attention on the black haired male.

"Your room's in the basement."

"The basement...again?" She couldn't help but feel her stomach pit at the look the boy gave. He had seemed sad, as if he was being punished.

"Of course." Levi brought down the ha kerchief that was on his face, below his chin now. "You don't have full control of yourself. Should you turn into a titan in your sleep, we can keep you restrained right there, in the basement. That was one of the conditions I was given when I took custody of you. It's a rule I have to follow."

"I'll stay in the basement with him." Both turned towards her, but she was looking towards the doorway. Petra's signature was getting closer so she would make best not to talk much.

"Fine, then." Watching how her face never left the door frame, he looked back at Eren. "I'll go and check your work. You take over here, Eren. "

"Yes, sir."

He proceeded to walk past the both of them, and up the stairs outside the door. Dark green eyes turned to her, his mouth had just started to open, when she raised on finger to the lower part of her mask. She was making the , 'shh' , gesture at him. He closed his mouth and raised an eyebrow at her, only for her to disappear in a blink. He was about to talk out loud when another voice caught him off guard.

"You look disappointed, Eren!" She held a pleasant voice to the younger boy.

"Huh? Petra?" He jumped for a second.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind that I call you 'Eren' like Captain Levi does." The ginger smiles at him. "He sets the rules here."

"I see." He blinked at her. "I don't mind, but did I really look disappointed just now?"

"It's not an unusual reaction. He's not the great, perfect hero that society makes him out to be, huh?" Her eyes started to become half lidded and filled with warmth. "The real Captain Levi is shorter than you'd expect, temperamental, crude and unsociable."

Sakura, still standing by Eren, could only realize what that loving look meant. The girl was brutally honest with what kind of man she had her heart set for, she'd give her that.

"No, what surprised me is how serious he is, about adhering to the higher ups arrangements."

"You thought that, because he is strong and skilled, he didn't have to follow the rules like everyone else?"

"Yes." He seemed confused. "I thought that he didn't take orders from anyone..."

"I don't really know the details myself," her honey brown eyes stared at him, "but I think he might have been like that at one time. They say before he joined the scouts, Captain Levi was an infamous rogue in the capital's underground market."

Maybe that's why he's such a dick, Sakura thought to herself.

"Then, how did he...?"

"Beats me," the ginger shrugged at him, "I don't know what happened. But I heard he wound up being dragged into the scouts after giving in to commander Erwin."

Snickering to herself, she just imagined how Naruto had drug Sasuke back a couple of times. Sensing the short man's signature approaching, she waited in silence.

"The commander?" Eren, seemingly lost once again.

"Hey, Eren." Levi spoke as he turned into the doorway. Said boy jumping to attention as the young woman started to sweep the floor in front of her.

"Ye-Yes?"

"It's completely unacceptable." A dark shadow appeared over his eyes, as if to make him more scary looking. "Do it all over again."

Eren weakly nodded and went to walk back to the room he was cleaning before. Sakura stalking behind him the whole time. Once in the room, and no one seemed to be coming back or anywhere in the general area, Sakura appeared beside him.

"Want some help?"

"Ah-" he jumped as he heard her voice, taking a second to twitch, "I really don't think I can get used to that. But, yeah, um, if you wouldn't mind."

Pulling her mask up but keeping her hood on, she was quite content with not having to be breathing stuffy air for once. Smiling she started to sweep not wanting to force the boy into conversation. Eventually, he gave in and began to ask her questions.

"Did you know she was about to go into the room?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "just like how I felt you about to join me and the captain."

"Is it from the, charka, stuff?"

"Chakra." She huffed a smile. "Think of it like an aura, everyone has it in different amounts. Its as individual as the person it belong to."

"So you can see everyone that's in the world?" His eyes went wide as he was trying to grasp the situation.

"Yes and no." She stopped sweeping to put her full attention on the brunette. "If they are close enough, like say in this castle, then it's like an instinct in knowing where they are. If I was outside I could try and push the boundaries for looking at them farther."

"Oh..." He scratched the back of his head. "Is this...how your..people..talk?"

"Just call us shinobis or ninjas." She rolled her eyes at him. "But no, usually we just talk like normal people, scrolls, and use animal messengers or summons."

"The scrolls are on the animals?"

"Sometimes, most the time it's just easier to use summons since it cuts down relay time."

"What's a summon?"

"Oh it's basically a talking animal." His deadpanned face made her giggle. "It's a thing here, I'll show you mine. I made the contract with them when I joined anbu.."

He watched as she bit her thumb, seeing the blood made him jump back, worrying if she was just a titan shifter like him. Instead she tapped her thumb to the floor, and a small puff of smoke appeared. Dark green eyes glanced down to see a small white puff ball, no bigger than a child's ball, with black beady eyes was looking up at him.

"Haya-san." The small puff turned around using its leather wings, small ears standing straight up and away from its body.

"Sakura-Chan!" Eren couldn't help but jump back, a face full of shock as he was weirded out by the creature that just talked! He watched as the woman scooped up the animal as gently as she could, with just as gentle as a smile on her face.

"Sorry to bother you." Her green eyes looked pointedly at the brunette. "I would like to introduce to someone, and ask you a question, if you don't mind."

"Anything you wish, my hime!" Her voice matched her body, small and high like a child's with a feminine tone to it. Turning, the bat faced the young boy and waved a leathery wing at him. "Hello, my name is Haya. Who are you?"

"E-Eren.." He was trying to smile at least.

"He's like Naruto." He looked up to see light green eyes smiling warmly at him, calming down at her gesture. "May I ask my question?"

"Always, Sakura-chan!"

"Do you know how far from Konoha we are?" The little bat frowned, and shook her her head.

"Sakura-chan, I don't even know where I am, it doesn't feel like normal."

Sighing, the pink haired woman guessed this would of happened. She summoned Haya to make sure she would freak Eren out too much, but Haya, herself, is just a child. She's great for watching over and reporting things but not for information, she would just have to pass a message through her to the rest of the bats.

"Haya-san, could you do me a favor?" She could see the smile the small creature attempted to make. "Could you tell Goro-sama, that this place, is where I ended up. I'm not sure about Sasuke or Naruto but I would think they are here too. If he could pass the information to Shikamaru or Kakashi-sensei."

"Of course! I'm right on it!" The small puff of smoke appeared on her hands where the small animal was.

"Wha-I mean..." With his mouth opening up and down like a fish. "Does everyone have a talking animal?!"

"Some do, some don't." She shrugged. "Usually the type of missions me and my team go on, require us to report back information. Whether it's to us on the field or to those back home. It makes life easier, and solo missions not so lonely. But you have to treat them like people, they have the same level of thought and feeling as a human does."

"Not so lonely..." He had said it in a whisper but she could hear it clearly. "Is, is that why you want to stay in the basement with me, Sakura?"

"H-huh?" A light blush popped up on her cheeks. "N-no, I just want to make sure you are safe from the others. I know they don't trust us, and well i guess same for each other, but I told you I want to help you guys out."

"Thank you." With a relaxed face and small smile, dark green and light green eyes met.

"You're welcome." She jabbed a finger towards the door as she pulled her mask back on. "Petra is coming this way."

She vanished from his sight once again as soon as she finished her sentence. He looked at the door waiting, it felt like a minute went by when the door finally opened, Petra, calling him to dinner.

They walked through the corridors into the dining room. Food was already set on the table and most had started to eat. Sakura gazed at the food, feeling hungry but ignoring her stomachs cries. All of them really didn't have much side talk, focusing on the food for the most part. As everyone started to finish, Petra offered to make everyone tea. She came back, one by one, placing the tea cups down.

"I assume our orders to remain on standby will last for a few more days." Eld spoke as he lowered his cup of tea. "I hear they're planning a major expedition for outside the wall thirty days from now. That and fresh graduates are going to participate straightaway too."

"Is that true, Eld?" Gunther spoke lowly as he stared at the blonde man. "That seems pretty sudden to me, especially since the rookies already had to endure this latest titan attack."

"I bet these brats were scared out of their wits." Orou added even with a smirk.

"Is this true, sir?" The ginger female turned towards their captain.

"I'm not in charge with coming up with missions." He stayed relaxed, leaning back on the chair with his leg cross over the other one. "But, knowing Erwin, he's put far more thought into this than we have."

"Indeed, there's never been a situation like this before." The blonde man spoke again. "So many lives were lost establishing a route to reclaim wall Maria. Just when it seemed it all went up in smoke, suddenly a completely different ray of hope has presented itself."

Eren sucked in a breathe as the all turned and looked at him. Looking down at the table as it began to feel like they were pressuring him.

"It's still hard to believe, but how does this, 'changing into a titan', thing actually work, Eren?"

"My memories of it aren't very clear, but it's like being in a trance.." His eyes widened, with realization. "I set it off by inflicting self harm, though. I bit my hand like so and..." he blinked.

Sakura watched him as he seemed conflicted with himself. Only being able to feel sorry for him at that moment. She snapped her attention to the door behind Levi, with the signature coming up quick.

"You guys know you can't get anymore info out of him than that's in the reports." Levi's voice broke through. He lifted a cup to his mouth. "Not that she won't try, of course. Better hope you won't end up dead when she tinkers with you, Eren."

"H-huh? Who's 'she'?"

The signature came smacking into the door. Everyone jumped except for Sakura and Levi. Did he know she was on her way here? Petra opened the door for Hange, who was holding her hand to her head.

"Good evening, members of the Levi squad!" Sakura blinked in confusion as she watched all members look at the glasses wearing woman, except for Levi, who kept his face of death pointed forward. "How is castle life treating you?"

"You're early." He still didn't look at her.

"I just couldn't help myself!" She exclaimed, walking by him towards Eren. Sakura's hackles raising.

"Section Commander Hange." Eren spoke with confusion.

"Sorry for the wait, Eren!" She smiled at him. "I'm actually in charge of examining two titans we caught in town. I'd like you to help with my experiments tomorrow, so I came to get your permission."

"Experiments?" He stared at her. "What would I have to do?"

"Why!" She started twitching her fingers, face full of excitement and flushed. Light green eyes glared at the woman. "The most exhilarating thing of all, of course!"

"U-um-" The brunette flinched back. "I'm not in a position to give permission myself. I don't have authority over myself, you see..."

"Levi!" She turned and used a deep commanding voice. "What are Eren's plans for tomorrow?"

"Cleaning the garden."

"Great, it's decided!" She smiled wickedly again and clasped onto his hand. "Eren, I look forward to tomorrow!"

"Uh...right." He spoke slowly. "But what kind of experiments are we talking about here?"

"Hmm?" He jumped slightly back, blinking in confusion.

"Er..as I said, what kind of experiments are we-"

"Hey, stop. Don't ask that!" Orou whispered from the other side of the table.

"Ah..." She spoke softly. "..I knew it. I thought you might be curious enough to ask."

Watching in confusion as the rest of the squad got up from their chairs, the pink haired woman sat still in the shadows. All eventually leaving the room and walking further away. Once she felt like it was safe, Sakura walked out from the shadow, pulling her mask off as she started dispelling the genjutsu. Hange jumped back slightly, putting a smile on as she saw the woman come closer. Only to release Eren's hand as she noticed the glare pointed at the appendage. The boy, giving her a nod, showed no direct surprise as he was just getting use to her being everywhere.

"Sakura!" Said woman was sitting down on the other side of the brunette boy, but nodded at the taller woman. Hange sat down by Eren. "I have a feeling you might be curious also. But, you want to know that badly, don't you? Well, if you insist, then I guess I better tell you guys all about the little ones we recently caught."

Different shades of green met each other for a moment before looking back at the woman.

"I began by repeating the same experiment that we've conducted during five previous captures. First was an attempt at communication. Unfortunately, I had to conclude there's no hope in communication with these ones either. However, my time spent interacting with the titans was fulfilling enough to make me forget how exhausted I was everyday."

She began to speak about how she had name the two titans. Sakura could only stare in disgust, she personally didn't think anything wrong with the woman herself but her ethics were poor. She understands the reasoning behind it, but experiments could be made on the field, but people risked their lives to gain these two monsters and she talks as if they are her pets. Eren was just staring at her, perplexed by it all.

"...and that's how I named the seven meter titan, 'Beane' , and the four mete titan, 'Sawney'." She took a breathe and continued. "Next, I tested out blocking them from sunlight. From the fact that titans become less active as the night progresses, this experiment corroborates that they somehow use sunlight for energy. It was from this that I found a substantial difference between the two. While Sawney became sluggish only one hour after sunlight, Beane was still his energized self three hours later. It came as another shock to me. They don't require food or water also, and even though they have vocal organs, they don't need to breathe. The only thing they need is sunlight. I'm curious to know what happens after prolonged sunlight withdrawal, but I can't risk having them die, you know? We've accidentally killed previous ones we've caught."

"There is other ways to kill them?" The pinkette spoke.

"Not that we know of. We tried decapitating some as an experiment but accidentally cut the napes of their necks too. Their names were Chikatiloni and Albert. They had such cute smiles. I did something truly terrible to them. I never want that to happen again."

"Ms.Hange.." He looked at her conflicted. Light green eyes just blinked slowly, she was going to use this as a time to absorb as much information as she could. Those same eyes narrowed as she saw the woman's body tensing. Moving faster than she did, Hange didn't end up getting in Eren's face as she jumped forward to grab his shoulders, but Sakura's. Having been pushed slightly to make him lean back, he flinched when he noticed both women had moved, with one's hand on his chest. Sakura's green eyes narrowed and challenged the other woman, who backed down with a sweat drop and put up peaceful hands.

"After that..." The pink haired woman started to ease up, lifting her hand from his chest and sitting back down. "The next step was physical contact with the titans! I tested to see if they can feel pain! I needed to determine if the titans had any weakness, besides their napes, you see. It was an agonizing task. Compared to Beane, Sawney was more introverted and didn't respond much at all. So Sawney's not very good at expressing himself. And he just keeps trying to chomp my head off."

"Um.." Eren interrupted her. "Ms.Hange?"

"Hm?"

"How can you be so light hearted when dealing with the titans? I mean, they're our natural enemies. They've driven humanity on the verge to extinction. Surely you've been experienced the threat they pose countless times yourself."

"I have." She looked away from the green eyes pair. "I've watched titan kill friend after friend, right before my own eyes. When I first joined the scouts, I fought the titans out of hate. But one day I made a realization, after I kicked the severed head of a three meter titan. It was light, unusually light. The titan's body I mean. When you think about it, it shouldn't be possible for such large creatures to stand and walk on two legs. Every titan was the same. Severed limbs were never nearly as heavy as they should have been. And when you transformed, I'm told your titan appeared out of nowhere. It's my belief that how they appear to us is nothing like what they really are."

She paused, bringing a tea cup towards Eren.

"For decades we've tried the offensive approach that feeds off of hate. I want to try and view the titans from a different angle besides the existing ones. It might end up as a waste of time...but I'm going to do it!"

So much talk about hate, and it's cycle, brought up bad memories from the kunoichi. Sometimes while it can be useful, it can lead to disaster. Dark green eyes peered at her for a moment before looking at Hange briefly. He fiddled with the teacup in front of him, taking a sip before passing it over to the pink haired girl behind him. She blinked for a second, mumbling a thank you as she took it from his hands. That sat in silence for a few more moments.

"Ms.Hange!" Said woman looked over to the boy. "Would you mind telling me even more about your experiments?"

"Huh?" Her eyes went wide, a small blush adjourning her cheeks. "Are you sure?!"

"Yes!"

"I think it would be good to know as much as possible before tomorrow's experiments!"

"A good point..." She smirked and raised her hands in the air. "I did gloss over a lot of things just now. I should go into further detail! This could take a while."

"That's okay!" He gave her a reassuring smile.

"I'll start out with the hypothesis I had the first time we caught a titan..." she started to ramble off.

Sakura decided she had enough of listening to them. She blocked out what they were saying unless she heard information about their gear or tactics. The brunette had basically said the only thing that had proved in their experiments were that this creatures needed sunlight, still only known to die by nape injuries, and had different reactions at night. She continued sipping on the tea that Eren had given to her, she wasn't too tired, for all her long grueling missions she's had this was cake. Her opinion might have changed about Hange, but she could tell there's something being hidden. She would stay by Eren's side as long as she could to protect him. She wasn't going to let him become a tied down experiment like those creatures had been.

She stayed up all night with them, into morning, mostly meditating, pulsing her chakra around her body to maintain her levels to where she's grown to have them. Cracking and eye open as she felt a frantic signature coming closer. She exhaled when she saw Eren's stained face, he definitely would not be able to handle the woman's talking any longer.

"I'm sure they teach everyone this stuff during the academy training!" Hange still had all her energy, making gestures with her arms. "You knew all this right?"

"Yeah..." He whispered from how tired he was. "I knew it all..."

"Um, excuse me Hange." The brunette blinked as if forgetting the petite woman was there. "There is a frantic person coming towards the door. I just wanted to give you fair warning."

"Huh?" The tall woman adjusted her sight towards the door. Looking back to see Sakura was gone.

Not ten seconds later, a soldier kicked the door open. Out of breath and sweating all over.

"Is section commander Hange, here?!" He yelled, locking eyes with her, he continued. "The test subjects..Both of the titans have been killed, ma'am!"

Hange pushed her chair back, and made a break for out the building. Squad Levi had heard the commotion, rounding up their horses to follow behind the section commanders trail. As they rode along, Sakura couldn't help but wonder what was happening. Revenge on the titans for the murders? No, no one would willingly displease the higher ups like that. It's not like anyone would be against the experiments either, to have much knowledge. She hopped from building to building the closer to the wall they got, finding it easier and faster.

As they had got closer to the growing crowd they dismounted. Sakura, perched up in a high position looked over everyone. She tried her best to ignore Hange's anguished cries. She couldn't depict anyone in different uniforms, or with any malicious intent. Casting her genjutsu, she walked up to the side of Eren.

"No!" Hange still was wailing ahead of them. "Tell me this isn't happening!"

"They killed the test subjects." Gunther spoke towards the side of them. "Did soldiers do this?"

"Yeah." Eld replied to him. "They haven't found who's responsible yet. Apparently both were killed at the same time, just before dawn. By the time guards noticed, whoever did it used ODM to get away."

"So a team of at least two people planned this, huh?" The dark haired man replied.

"Look, section Commander Hange is raging mad." Orou joked. As soon as the words fell out of his mouth, Petra's face turned angry and she decided to elbow his ribs. Hearing the low cry of pain brought a smile to the kunoichi's face.

Levi, attempting to stand next to young brunette, ended up bumping into the woman from behind. She had felt him come up, not expecting him to walk into her. Turning to point her invisible glare at him, all she saw was his usual displeased face. His eyes narrowed dangerously when she flicked his chest gently out of spite.

"How did this happen?" Staring straight at the two corpses, the titan shifter looked as if he couldn't comprehend them.

"Let's go." He gave both of them a look. "The rest is the Military Polices job."

"Ye-Yes, sir."

They both stood for a second, just looking at the scene.

"Eren, who do you think could of done it?" She whispered to him. He just shook his head as a reply, clearing haven't any a clue.

The next thing she knew, in the midst of signatures one was walking up behind them. Looking over her shoulder she saw Erwin come up and grab Eren's shoulder,making the boy flinch, and was leaning in to whisper in his ear.

"What do you see here?" He spoke lightly. "What do you think the enemy is?"

"Huh?"

"Sorry." Erwin's intense stare lessened. "That was a strange thing to ask."

He had started to pull away, when the hint of vanilla hit him in the air. Raising an eyebrow, he looked around and whispered her name.

"Yes, sir?" She whispered back, touching his arm to show where she was at.

"Watch out for him please." With that he stood back up straight, turning to walk away with Levi. Both her and Eren watched, both having wandering thoughts.

She glanced at him, then to the bodies of the experiments. Commander Erwin wanted her to look after Eren, why? All she could place together was that someone was intentio-

Her eyes went wide.

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Hey guys, I'm really sorry if you're enjoying the story, but are bothered by any mistakes! If anyone can explain how to get a proofreader,(English is not my forte) on the app I'll gladly have someone look over the chapters for me!

I have a few months left over seas, so this probably won't be the last story I attempt. If anyone wants to take the story and make it how they want is all fine by me! =)


	6. Reunited

She was up in the trees when she heard a horse galloping closer. Relaxing up in the branches as she focused her chakra to certain points of her body, holding as many leaves as she could on herself. Glancing down, she saw Eld and Gunther talking about the incident. She realized early on Eld some how heard of everything and anything, rumor or talk mentioned. So she would relax by him when he got in his gossip moods with his partner.

"In the end, they never found who ever used the ODM gear without permission." Gunther took a sip of his drink. "Who could it have been?"

"Beats me." The blonde took his own sip. "Right now I'm more worried about the up coming rookie solicitation. How many rookies would be willing to join us for just the hell of it?"

"Hey, Eren." Gunther yelled to the boy who was feeding a horse at the stable doors. He blinked and stared at the man. "Is there anyone in your class who's thinking of joining us?"

"There are." His eyes lowered and he looked at the horse. "Well, there were. I'm not sure about now."

"Assemble!" Eld's holler drew everyone's attention. He had stood straight up the second he made eye contact Levi riding in. The two partners stood next to each other as the saluted.

His horse neighed as it came to a stop. "Make ready at once! We're going on patrol."

"Yes, sir!" The spoke in unison.

"Good morning, Captain Levi." Eren ran up, and saluted himself.

"Listen, Eren. Don't fall more than two lengths behind." He looked down at the boy with a grim face. "You're only allowed to wander around because I'm watching you. Don't forget that."

"Yes, sir."

"Let's go." He kicked his horse, turning her around. The rest ran to gather their horses. Leaving Sakura in the tree by Levi.

Jumping down, she landed a few feet by him. Cooing to the horse, who always seemed to know she was there, call it an animals instinct, she laughed when the horse started to bop her head up and down. Levi, not knowing what was happening, went to tighten the rein gently only to stop when he heard her voice.

"Relax, sir." Speaking softly as she flattened a hand over the horses noise. "Your horse has been able to sense me this whole time."

"So a horse can find you before we can, great." He narrowed his eyes at her as he spoke low, not wanting to draw attention from the others.

"Animals have always been able to sense chakra." Taking a step away from the horse, looking to see the others almost ready to go. "When do you think it's appropriate for them to find out about me? I'm starting to enjoy watching Orou injure himself every time he mouths off Eren."

"When we know who's actually safe to be around." She wasn't expecting that, it's almost as if they literally have zero clue who the threats are.

"I'll protect those with good intentions." She sighed. "If I ever find my teammates...I'll try to convince them to help your cause."

He just looked down from his horse, not speaking anymore. She had nothing else to say, she couldn't promise them help at this point. They don't even know her full extent of powers, if they did, they would only want to keep her. If she finds Naruto and Sasuke, if they had a chance to go home, they would take that over staying here to help any day...she might too.

She watched as the others rode up. Getting into a small formation with Eren right by Levi. Behind them Eld and Gunther were paired next to each other. They all seemed to have amazing control of the horses, she thought, as she was running along side them. That or the horses were just all well tempered, but even still she's never seen any before in her life run this long and hard before. Even Petra and Orou managed to meet up with them half way.

Eventually they stopped to rest for the night in an open bit of field surrounded by three trees. To rest themselves from the ride and the animals too. She noticed the one black horse, the captain's, kept bouncing her head for attention. Sakura knew it was aimed at her so she walked over and pet the large creatures head. Probing with green chakra out of sight from the others she looked into its health. Soothed by the sensation flowing through it, the mare slowly started drifting its head lower and lower. Smiling under her mask, she thought at how there was no muscle damage at all to the animal. It was an extraordinary thing at how healthy this horse was. She looked over as she felt a spark of agitation through a signature, looking over to see the short man coming towards her.

"I don't know what you are doing," speaking softly as he looked pointedly at his mare, "but it needs to stop."

"I was checking her health." Sakura withdrew her hand and chakra, causing the animal to lift its head up and whinny at her. Ignoring her owner completely. "It's amazing, we rarely see horses where I'm from. None of them have the same structure as this one."

"They are bred specifically for fighting against titans." His horse was still bobbing up and down, he lifted an eyebrow when he felt a hand grab his. She guided his hand to the mare's muzzle and had him stroke it before she let go. The horse seemingly calming down with this touch.

"We have our summons or animal-nins for our purposes." He gave her a glance to continue her explanation.

"I'm contracting to bats and slugs." He frowned and gave a disgusted face. "Hey, now, neither of them are bad. Katsuyu-Sama is best for healing, while my bats are good for espionage."

"Don't ever show me those things." She let out a little laugh. Only imaging his face if she ever needed Katsuyu-Sama at her full size.

They began to set out rations, at one point she saw Levi get up and put an extra piece of bread into his mares saddle. Sneaking over, she said her thanks internally as she munched on it. Gradually she went to make a bed in the trees they had stopped by. Noticing Eren was making his bed underneath of where she would be sleeping at.

Eventually as the dark overtook, she watched the stars. Completely understanding why Shikamaru cloud watched during the day. Memories of her and all her friends, all their weird quirked combined, had sobered her mood. She had looked over at one point in the night and saw Eren's downcasted eyes. Her heart started to give out. She slipped down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder to give him warning.

"What's wrong?" She almost whispered.

"I-..." He let out a deep breath. "I wonder if anyone of them will join the scouts."

"Your friends?" He nodded at her. "I think two are definitely going to. Maybe some others, maybe not, but aren't those two the ones that you should worry about most?"

"I want them to." His eyes were flooded with emotion. "But I can't have anything happen to them. They have goals and dreams, ones that involve a happy ending. I can't take that from them. It's their choice, whether I want it to happen or not."

"Teammates can put you through hell," he looked over at her, catching shimmering eyes, but she had a small smile to her, "or pull you out of it."

"You told me about the one," she looked up at him, "how about the other one?"

"Sasuke?" He nodded. "He's an ass, a lot of the times, but means well. He has a blank face all the time, unless you know what to look for, a small twitch in his eye could mean he's pissed as hell. He's lost his whole family.."

She paused and sighed, bringing up the truth she's had to tell herself over the years.

"Naruto saved his life from hate so many times. Those two are best friends, they would die for each, have tried multiple times too. Naruto lost his family when he was a baby, he can relate to Sasuke more than I ever could." She couldn't help the small smile appearing on her face. "I still have my family, and they became a part of it. Same for them, they consider me someone they would turn up countries for. I could only imagine what's going on with them and their brains right now."

"Family, Huh?" He closed his eyes and they stayed that way. Hoping he realized the good of what his friends would be for him, climbing back up the tree to her resting spot, she shut her eyes too. Feeling like she might able to get through to him, she'd be willing to answer any and all questions he had.

She had slept good through the night, waking up the earliest out of everyone. She watched the horizon, how it seemed so innocent, yet was filled with monsters. She didn't realize how long she was watching the pastel colors fill the sky until she saw movement. She saw Eld sit up, rubbing the dreams out of his eyes. He eventually turned his head over and gave a very mistrusting look towards Eren. He didn't do anything else, hiding his face into a neutral mask when the boy woke up along with the rest of them.

Eventually they are started to go over the plans for the mission. Everyone was involved except for their captain. Who was trying to pet his horse, but to no avail thanks to a certain kunoichi being nearby. His horse was going between attempting to get closer to Sakura, which he had to stop and licking his hand like a popsicle.

"Our special operation squad will be placed here." The blonde man spoke to them, pointing at the map he had. "On standby in the rear center rank."

"That's pretty far back." Gunther added in. "This is the safest position in the formation."

Nodding in agreement, Eld added. "Not even the supply wagons get this level of treatment. Our goal this time is to simply leave and come back though."

"This mission is meant to be short, as it's also a test run to see if we can get you all the way to Shiganshina or not."

"Um-" Eren looked down at the map. "I still really don't know what to do with this ability of mine."

"Do you understand what the commander asked you back then?" Gunther probed him with. Sakura's eyes hardened as she knew what he was aiming towards.

"Eh?" The brunette looked around. "Do any of you know what they meant?"

Eld and Petra responded by shaking their head no, while Orou was more vocal.

"It'd be lying if I said I understood it at all. But I-"

"It's impossible," Gunther cut him off, earning a pout, "there's another goal for this operation. But the commander decided it doesn't need to be explained to the soldiers. In which case leaving and coming back is all we should focus on. Have faith in the commander."

"Yes, sir." Was all Eren could respond with.

Sakura looked at all of the members of squad Levi. Either some were playing dumb or just genuinely did not know, she didn't know what was worse. From what she's seen, she can vouche that Eren doesn't put things together quick. As for the rest, her eyes narrowed, she was going to be weary of all of them. She had figured out what kind of mission this was going to be, so many hints thrown at them. It's a lure.

"That's all for today's training, let's all head back."

The ride back to the castle was uneventful. Everyone corralled their horse and started to do their own thing. The brunette boy was stuck with the stable duties, Orou in charge of watching him, and Sakura sitting in the corner waiting to jump at the man's throat. He's got a lot of jokes for people who can't defend themselves. She looked over her shoulder to peer at the mass of signatures coming back. Pausing when she recognized two of them.

Dark green eyes looked from right next to her, he moved to see the commotion. Gasped when he saw the same people she did.

"Oh, it's them!" He turned towards Orou. "Mr.Orou, May I go and talk to my classmates for a minute?"

"Tch. Go on."

"Hey! Mikasa! Armin!" He was yelling out to them as he ran towards them.

Armin's face lit up as he turned. Mikasa has snapped her body around so quick, the medic thought she gave herself whiplash. Her face with full of panic and worry. She called out his name as he got closer.

"It feels like it's been forever!" He had a big smile on his face as he spoke to them."

"Eren!" Mikasa looked like she was having a panic attack, just from being able to see him again. She grabbed at his hands and held them. "Have they mistreated you in anyway?! Like examining or studying every bit of you? Or putting your through mental anguish?"

"N-no, nothing like that."

"That pipsqueak," her face darkened, "went way too far. Someday I will make him pay."

Sakura's eyebrows went up to that one, I mean sure she had similar feelings when it happened, but she didn't have the killer intent behind it.

"Are you talking about Captain Levi?" The brunette asked Mikasa.

Turning her head towards said man's signature, she saw him, unmoving, with his usual face just staring at the trio. He was holding onto his horse's rein, quite frankly looking ridiculous with the way he was set in stone as his mare was bouncing her head up and down. Eventually pulling her to move along with him as he walked away.

"Hey, Eren!" He looked up to notice all his other classmates had stepped around him.

"You're all here!?" He exclaimed, pausing as he realized what that would mean. "But..if you're here..does that mean you joined the scouts?"

"Why else would we be here?" A bald kid spoke.

"Then just Jean, Annie and Marco joined the military police?" He turned around and the sound of people approaching him from behind. A tall man with a long face. "Wait, you're here too?"

"Marco's dead." The man spoke.

"Huh?" Eren's eyes went wide. "What did you just say? Did you just say marco's dead?!"

"Apparently not everyone can die in a dramatic way." He seemed to give the smaller boy a glare. "I don't even know how he went out. He died all alone, without anyone knowing or seeing."

"Marco did..?"

Everyone wore a grim face around him. His had dropped the second they gave him the news.

"Hey!" A man called out. "Rookies, father around! Your uniforms are here!"

She zoned out as they all put their cloaks on. Eren seemed to be misty eyed as they had them on, watching their backs as they walked away to finish up their duties. She walked up behind him, putting a hand on his back. He didn't react or say anything, just stood there. So she spoke first.

"Those two are here for you." He flinched at that statement. "You better protect them, and the rest of that hoard the best you can."

They eventually found themselves on their way to to the dinner hall. Sakura watched from the rafters as they ate, her being able to eat in peace herself. Afterwards, she watched as they all just stood around, going from small talk to needed to have conversations.

"Yes, we're taking part in the upcoming operation also." Mikasa spoke to him.

"Hey, Eren." Jean, spoke. "I heard you tried to kill Mikasa when you turned into a titan. What's all that about?"

"It's not like that." The black haired woman tried to interject. "He was swatting at a fly."

"I'm not asking you." He spoke rudely. "Actually, Mikasa. That cut on your cheek looks pretty deep."

Said woman put a hand up to her cheek, pulling the hair closer to hide her cut.

"Where did you get it?"

"Apparently, it's true, that I tried to kill Mikasa when I was in titan form." He looked shameful.

"Apparently?" Sakura glared down from her spot. "Meaning, you don't remember? So, basically, you never knew about your titan ability of yours until now and you don't have full control over it?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Hear that, guys?" He huffed. "Sounds like this is the current situation. Our lives and the rest of all humankind rest on his shoulders. We'll probably end up like Marco too. Dead. Before we all know it."

"Jean." Mikasa spoke up, insulted over what was transpiring. "What's the point in chastising Eren right now?"

"Y'know Mikasa." He spoke low. "Not everyone is ready to needlessly die for Eren like you. We should know what we're lying down our lives for. Otherwise we'll end up hesitating when the time comes. We're asking Eren for a guarantee. Show us what you're worth. So we can see if our lives are worth as much."

He turned and walked up to Eren, much to her displeasure she can't do anything in front of this many people, and grabbed his shoulders.

"We're really counting on you! You hear that?!"

"Y-Yeah." His green eyes pierced into the other mans.

/

"Commander! It's almost time!" A man yelled in the distance. A bell was being rung as they all waited.

"We've lured the nearby titans away!" Another yelled.

Everyone was sitting on a horse, ready to go, even Sakura had a horse. Sakura was henged as a herself with short hair, now blonde, while her eyes remained the same. She had caught a few looks, being she was attractive, but most lost interest as soon as the bells and yelling started. Everyone too anxious to notice her. Under her henge she still had her mask, cloak and regular attire, should she need to escape. This was just to make it easier for her to communicate. Squad Levi was told she was a diversion, for if a moment comes, that ,'a lot of the squads gained one, to test it out.' They didn't bother her, Eren catching on quick it was actually her, and it being Levi's idea of course knew.

Petra has her horse as close as she could to her captains. Staring straight ahead but displeased at the sudden formation change.

"Thirty seconds to gate opening!"

The scouts had for the most part just stared ahead. Most stuck in their thoughts while some were stuck in fear. She noticed how Eren turned his head, looking at the side, following his vision she saw two children. His eyes seemed to warm at the same time as proud. Determined, he looked ahead just as a man called out.

"This is it! Humanity is about to take another step forward! Show us what you're made of! Open the gate!"

They all raised their swords with a victory cry. Soon the large rock gate was being pulled up from the dirt, everyone suddenly sober of the moment. Erwin, tightening his face as he gave the command as loud as he could.

"Forward!" His white horse leading the whole formation. "Now commencing the 57th exterior scouting mission! Move out!"


	7. Forest

Just a side note: the Henge is her looking like a regular soldier to their eyes, uniform and all, I'm sorry if I caused confusion anywhere with that!

——————————————————————-

They were all rushing their horses forward, through the deserted and broken town outside of the walls. They had to pass through this area to get to the open grass plains. Sakura could feel the hazy cloud that identified the titans hidden around the buildings. The formation would definitely end up running by them, but it's unclear to see how they would react to that many humans. Up ahead of them she heard Hange yelling out to the formation.

"Ten meter titan ahead, approaching from the left!"

Watching as she saw others hopping off their horses, flying through the air with their gear towards the monster. She had to be honest, she thought and she saw their maneuvers, for civilians they all had a lot of grace in the air. Almost flying around the titan, cutting at it here and there, giving it distractions as they attempted to kill it. As the formation ran down the single road, they passed an empty street to where they could see the titans full body for a split second. It was swinging small frail looking arms around, destroying the buildings close by to them and had a large swollen belly. A few people had gasped as they saw the brief image.

Her squad had kept quiet with their heads forward. She thought about how they were able to stay calm, after all, she reached out to confirm, everyone here was at civilian level. She was sure even some ninjas would have certain feelings about fighting these creatures, yet most of the people pushed through knowing it was certain death. Then she heard Eren voice out a concern.

"Mr.Orou, do you think they, my classmates, can beat a titan in a fight?" He had concern eyes as he did turn to look at his squad mate.

"Huh?" He gave the young boy an undignified look. "What the hell did you just spend the last month doing?

"Huh?" Dark green eyes just blinked.

"Listen kid," this man looked as if we was speaking to one, "outside scouting missions are about killing titans as little as possi-"

He bit his tongue. Again. Her light green eyes could only just stare deadpanned at this point. Eren had flinched back from the man, just staring at him, before he casted a gaze her way. Shaking her head she smiled at him, trying to give him some reassurance.

They were still pushing forward, all in an almost single file line. Finally they broke into the open field, you could see a good distance with some trees and buildings scattered across. So, they wouldn't be able to see all the formation at once then, some would be obstructed. Up ahead Commander Erwin began to yell.

"Assume long range scouting formation!"

Most of the horses started to spread out towards their sides, squad Levi staying in the middle so they continued straight. She saw Eren glance occasionally towards the directions he knew his friends to be in, before turning his head back straight. Minutes passed by as the formation spread out to its true distance apart. Time went by slowly, until a couple shots of red in the sky caught her attention. The red markers meant someone spotted a titan, it was a way for the commander to move the formation away and around anything sighted. Watching as a green flare was sent into the direction towards their left, them turning to follow it.

They had gone for a while without any flares in the sky until in the distance they could see a black one appear. Black meant an abnormal, or an unpredictable titan had been spotted or broke part of the formation. From the directions of the black smoke they saw, it seemed it was getting closer to the center ranks. Soon they were yellow flares being shot all along the right side. Emergencies on the right flank? What exactly is going on?

No one was speaking around her, maybe they didn't have as good as an eye sight as her, after all the smoke flares were even faint in the distance for her to see. Everyone in the formation seemed significantly spread out from each other, in the back of her mind, she could only think maybe it wasn't as safe as they had thought.

She didn't find it in her place to speak up about the flares. Seeing how everyone was just pushing forward. Plus she wanted to feel like she could trust Levi's judgement.

Suddenly smoke signals were getting closer, drawing her out from her thoughts. Just what was Commander Erwin up to now?

"Smoke signals, green." Their captain finally spoke. "Orou, you fire it."

"Understood, sir!" Said man began to fill his flare, pointing it up towards the sky and releasing his finger.

She had turned her head as she saw an incoming signature. Another soldier had begun riding closer to them, he seemed out of breath and slightly scared but seemed to hold himself enough to yell out to them.

"Reporting, sir!" Everyone turned their heads slightly to look at the man.

"It's an oral message!" He rode up closer to the short captain. "Right wing spotters decimated! Detection network partially out! Please pass this message unto the left!"

She heard Eren gasp as his eyes had widened. Narrowing her eyes, she cursed slightly to herself. She knew something was going on, while she had a small guess and hoped it to be true she hoped they didn't ride on the lives it would take for the plan to work. If this is the case, Commander Erwin has signed for more than half their deaths.

"You heard him, Petra." Levi turned to her. "Go."

"Yes, sir!" The ginger female pulled off towards their left.

The younger boy had followed her with his eyes. He flinched slightly as her turned to where the right spotters would had been, staring in possible fear.

"Eren?" Light green met dark green as they snapped over. She had forwarded her brows in the unasked question.

"Armin." He looked forward once again. "I'm pretty sure he was part of the right wing. Still, he and the others had been positioned closer to the center. The titans couldn't have advanced that far in-"

His voice was cut off from the sound of a flare going in the air. Both turned to see the black signals not far off from them.

"An abnormal?!" He couldn't help but yell.

"Eren," Levi spoke up. "You fire it."

"Y-Yes, sir!"

He was getting his flare ready as she looked away from him. Their captain seemed to be in deep thought, also had some anger stuck in his face.

"This is disgraceful." He finally spoke. "We've let them get pretty deep inside this formation."

Eren had finished firing the flare, the black smoke creating a column straight up in the air.

"Below that black smoke...someone is fighting...?" Eren had whispered so low that even she almost didn't hear it.

Looking out to where the smoke was coming from, her face had been set in an expression of light worry. Sure she didn't know these people, but they were still probably dying left and right. She could only pray for the boys sanity, his friends were out there, possibly in danger and he kept pushing forward. Sure, if he knew for a fact he definitely would have broken formation to save them if they were, but he seemed to hold them to a bit of a standard. Hoping for the best that he could.

The blonde strands whipped around her face as she gazed out to the distance in front of them. She could see trees, as if it was it's own forest, except these trees were larger than any she had ever seen. They had to be well over fifty meters tall! They were getting closer and she felt the signatures surrounding the outside perimeter, with some bundled inside. Blinking, she realized her prediction was true. It's a trap, obviously for the one who killed the two titans back within the walls, but who is it exactly? Are they the reason why the formation had started to fall apart? They had entered the forest, following a road like path inside. She was staring up, gazing in wonder at the trees around her as she heard Eren speak.

"Captain!" He seemed frantic. "Captain Levi!"

"What?" Said man spoke back calmly and slightly irritated.

"'What?', this is a forest, sir!" He narrowed his dark green eyes. "We have no way of detecting an approaching titan this far in with only the center rank! Something seems to be on our right, too! How are we supposed to avoid titans or protect the wagons?!"

"Quit whining about the obvious." The short man replied with a drawl. "We can't do any of those things any more."

"B-But, why?!"

"Take a good look around you, Eren. See all these absurdly huge trees?" He kept his eyes forward. "This is the perfect environment for using Omni-directional mobility gear. And use that middling head of yours to think. Use your brain for once if you don't wanna die."

"Y-Yes, sir." He had lowered his head to think to himself. Turning to look over to the old man next to him, only to widen his eyes as he heard his whisper.

"Dammit, what are we doing here?" Orou had a dark face on him. "Seriously..what the hell is going on.."

Sakura watched as he snapped his head over towards the ginger female. Her face was also confused and stressed. He seemed to become more shocked as he looked at their faces, turning towards the last two of the original squad Levi. Even Gunther and Eld Both has stressed and conflicted looks to them. He looked to her last, seemingly gaining false relief at her calm face, having only slightly pinch eyebrows to her expression. He faced back towards their captain who was leading the group.

They continued to ride forward, her ability to sense signatures starting to annoy her. She could reach out and feel how the forest was almost starting to have a grey ring around it, incomplete definitely but there was a decent amount of titans surrounding the area. She could feel up ahead of them in the distance was a bundle of civilians, having a feeling they would go directly into them. Her head snapped up and over her shoulder, turning to face behind herself. A blob of grey haze had broken through the circle and made its way in, making its way towards them at a fast speed. She watched for a few seconds before a black flare went flying through the sky in the distance, alerting the rest of her team. None really noticing how she was already watching in that direction.

"A black smoke signal?!" Eren yelled.

"-from right behind us!" The blonde man hollered, going in the concern. "Must be whatever's on the right!"

"Draw your swords." Levi spoke evenly to them as he drew his own. "If it shows itself, we'll only have a moment."

She kept her eyes facing behind them, light green narrowed dangerously. She felt the grey haze coming at a quick pace. She could feel civilians signatures flying around it, some disappearing in a blink, obviously being killed by this monster. It was starting to get too close for her own liking, she thought it over and decided on her choice of action, she would trust him, but she wanted him to know she had a good upper hand.

"Sir," a few turned towards her, almost as if forgetting her existence, "you have about twenty seconds before it'll come into sight."

They seemed to grow worried at her statement, she didn't turn to see it but could feel it roll through their feeble signatures. It only took about 18 seconds for a soldier to come flying into their vision, he had his back towards them in a maneuver. It only took two or three seconds for a large hand to come flying down at him, at an amazingly quick speed. His body shattering mid air, blood and organs ripping apart as they caught sight of the monster.

A female titan, running so fast at them. Blonde with blue eyes, looking as if she were only made of muscle and ligaments. Her run had an almost perfect form, something that was not present in normal titans. Sakura kept her eyes glaring at the creature, even as she heard Eren gasp in horror.

"Move!" Levi yelled at them.

Watching closely as the female titan tried a new tactic. She was running slightly to their side, picking up speed to try and side swipe at them, destroying a tree in the way as her hand had reached out to grab at Eren. She missed by a distance, as they had changed speed on her. She slid slightly behind, catching her momentum and continued to run after them. With crazed icy blue eyes, focusing in on Eren, he gasped once again. Sakura pulled her horse as close as she could to him, coming in between him and Orou.

"It's fast!" He cried out.

"There's no way to avoid it inside this forest!" Gunther couldn't help but state the obvious.

"It's catching up!" Eld was slightly panicking too.

"Captain!" Petra's voice held fear. "Let's switch to ODM!" Flinching back as she saw he was only staring at the titan. "Captain!"

Two more soldiers appeared in the air, attempting their tries to stop the titan, with war cries.

"Reinforcements from the rear!" Petra yelled out to the group.

One of the soldiers attempting to send his hook into her, the titan had leaned slightly to the side allowing the chain to go flying past her. Grabbing it, she yanked it till the soldier was at her side, shoulder checking him into a tree. He was completely smashed, blood pouring down the tree and leaving chunks of flesh on her skin as if he had been a squashed bug. She grabbed at the other ones chain who was flying in front of her, snapping him back into her open palm, just to tighten a fist, instantly crushing him to death. Blood was dripping down from her hands and she tossed the body to the side of her with no remorse.

Sakura couldn't help her mouth openly slightly in horror. She was livid, this titan was obviously a shifter, one just killing needlessly, but it didn't change watching people die in front of her. The other around her were definitely frantic, panicking as they had watched the event too.

"Captain, give your orders!" Petra wasn't holding back her raw emotions as she cried out to him.

"Let's take it out!" Orou added in, just as conflicted. "It's dangerous! We should take care of it!"

The female titan was still on their heels.

"I'll cut it to shreds!" Eld pulled out his sword, his eyebrows scrunched down.

For a split second she felt confidence radiating from Eren, only for it to turn frantic once again.

"Captain Levi!"

"Captain!"

"-please give us orders!"

"-it's about to catch us!"

"Lets take it out here!" Eld was yelling. "This is why we entered the forest, isn't it, Captain?!"

"Captain! Your orders!?"

"Everyone," He leaned up slightly and finally looked back at his squad, "cover your ears."

He had reached and grabbed his gun, aiming it up to shoot it. It didn't produce any smoke, just a very loud noise. Flinching slightly when the sound hit head eardrums, she channeled a small amount of chakra to their canals to protect them. Sakura stared in confusion, this team was panicking, they were scared and needed reassurance. She didn't understand the point of the loud noise. Then it clicked. She looked forward, towards the mass of signatures not extremely far ahead. It was a warning system. The rest of the squad had their hands up to their ears, still clenching their swords.

"An acoustic shell?!" The brunette spoke out.

Levi turned, meeting her gaze briefly. She tried to portray a look of understand to him. He held it for a second, putting on a mask, before speaking to Eren.

"Tell me, what's your job again?" Narrowing his eyes slightly. "Is it simply to give into your emotions of the moment? No, it's not. This squads mission is it do everything possible to keep this brat unharmed. Down to our last breath."

With that he faced forward again, he's mind set. Glancing at the people around her, she could see the slight shame showing in his team. They all quickly set their determination in with his words.

"We're going to keep pushing ahead on horseback, for it?" He kept his voice as even and calm as before.

"Understood, sir!" Petra was the first to reply.

"Push ahead?!" His dark green eyes were concerned. "But for how long?! Not to mention it's almost on top of us now! More-"

He watched as more soldiers came flying in to deter the titan.

"More reinforcements!" He finished but was still trying to make his case. "They'll get killed too if we don't hurry and help them!"

"Eren, face forward!"

"Mr. Gunther?!"

"Don't fall out of step!" Eld joined in. "Maintain top speed!"

"Mr.Eld?!" He cried out. "Why?! Who else could do it if not squad Levi?!"

Another soldier had screamed out just before being smacked into a tree. His chest pierced by the bark and his lower half was flattened into the wood. Blood running down in streams. Eren let out a small cry, he had watched it as he had been looking back at Eld and Gunther.

"Another one's dead!" His voice was cracking. "We could of saved him, too! One persons still fighting! There's still time to save him!"

"Eren!" Petra gained his attention. "Focus ahead and keep moving!"

"Are you telling me to ignore the fighting going on behind us?!" Dark green eyes glared into honey brown. "To just run away and abandon my comrades?!"

Sakura flinched at that. Kakashi-sensei's motto smacked her from her memories.

"Yes, I am!" She yelled back at him. "Do as the captain says!"

The ginger haired woman lost her confidence as she saw light green eyes glaring daggers at her from the side of Eren. Snapping her eyes back to the boy to ignore the other woman's face.

"I don't understand why we're letting them die!" He took a breath. "I don't understand why he won't explain! Why!?"

"Because the captain doesn't feel the need to explain!" Orou snapped from the side. "You don't understand that cause you're still wet behind the ears! Now shut up and follow orders!"

Eren clenched his teeth and looked down. She watched his eyes become darker and felt her heart beat, she had the same sentiments as him. She watched as he put his sword away, an eyebrow forwarded as she didn't understand, until he started to lift a hand to his mouth, her eyes widened. He had just opened his mouth as she whispered his name, catching his attention. He stopped moving, green clashing with green, her not knowing what she was trying to convey.

"What are you doing, Eren?!" Petra yelled from his other side. Looking away from green to look into honey. "You're only permitted to use it when you're life's in danger! That was our agreement, remember?!"

He had listened but was ready to bite down on his hand again was the ginger yelled his name again.

"You're not in the wrong." Levi spoke. "If you wanna do it, do it. I can tell. He's a real monster, and not because of his titan abilities. No matter how hard he's restrained, no matter what cage he's thrown in, no one can ever tame him." He paused before continuing.

"Eren." His eyes were still forward. "The difference in our experience is why we don't see eye to eye. Choose, will you trust yourself? Or me, these guys, and the entire scout regiment? I don't know the answer to that, I never have. Whether I trusted myself or the choices of my dependable comrades, there was no telling on how things would turn out. So just do the best you can and choose which ever you'll regret the least."

Eren looked at him for a moment, taking in his words. They continued forward, their horses maintaining their speed. She watched him look back at the titan behind them, he was still debating what the captain had said in his head. He saw the soldiers still attempting to distract the female titan flying around her. Making up his mind, he began to bring his hand up with Petra spoke his name again.

"Trust us." She looked solemnly at him.

His eyes lowered, looking at the bite mark on her hand. Sakura looked over at the same appendage, letting the memories of that wash over her.

It was when they were starting the experiments on him, attempting to figure out what would work best with his titan form. Levi had come up with a way to pull him out without hopefully killing him. He should on the diagram it would be they cut his limbs out, not going anywhere near his nape.

The whole squad was sitting in the room. Her and Hange included. She was standing under a henge, a short haired blonde version of herself. Hange and Levi and explained to the team to not question who she was and that she was going to be a role in the operation. She was acting as an assistant to Hange, a special agent under the commanders. Seeing how Levi was the one to introduce her as she walked in with the taller woman, his team didn't question him, they just stared at her strangely. Eren blinked at her, not realizing who she really was right away.

"I found a way to not kill you, I think."

He had gone on to explain it to those in the room. She had given the idea to Levi when going over the anatomy of titans with him.

"I don't know if my limbs will grow back." Eren was shacking his head with a disapproving frown. "Is there another way to do this?"

"So you want to do this with out taking any risks or making any sacrifices?"

"N-no."

"Then prepare for the worst." He turned to face the boy completely. We're in the same boat. You could kill us. So just relax."

"Yes, sir...I understand." He could only nod.

Sakura stood next to Hange, who was perched up on a crate. The petite woman had her arms folded, a look of concentration on her face, displeased at how the keep reminding him of a possible violent streak. Her eyes half lidded as she gazed over at them.

"S-so, I can start the experiments, right?" The woman next to hear was speaking lowly. The kunoichi was expecting her to say something along those lines eventually, just letting out a sigh that was ignored by the woman.

"It's risky," Levi spoke, "but we can't risk not testing him, either."

"I'll be in charge of planning, then." Hange clasped her hands in front of her, reminding her of Sasuke's trademark pose. "Eren, if you're unsure about anything, then just learn as you go along. Anything we learn is easily worth risking our lives for."

She hopped down, standing at full height next to Sakura. Smiling as she threw her arms up, ushering to her and Levi that they should start now. Trailing behind her as she started to walk out the door, Levi in front with Hange, and the young boy next to her. She held Eren's stare as he came up next to her. He blinked still not figuring it out. Shaking her head, they continued their way down the hall and out into the stables. Gathering the four horses, they rode over to a well that was placed slightly farther away from all the buildings.

She watched as they threw a rope ladder down, for Eren to climb into. She peeked over the sides as he went down, eventually reaching the bottom. Taking a step back as the tall brunette yelled down to him.

"Are you ready, Eren?" Her glasses gleamed in the sun. "I'll fire a smoke signal when we're ready to begin! Everything after that is up to you."

"Understood!" They heard his echoey response.

"Mm," she smirked as she looked down at the boy, "even if he becomes a mindless titan this dry well will hold him! I think!"

"Hange." Said woman looked down at the fake blonde walking along side her, they were going to wait on the horses. "Is body will be crushed by the earth surrounding him, will it not?"

"Ah! That's the great thing about experiments!" She looked in pleasure over the ordeal. "We don't know the exact out come, but we should still learn something of it!"

Turning her head, light blonde strands falling onto her cheeks, she gave her exasperated stare to Levi. He refused to look at either of them and just kept his eyes ahead towards the well. Hange, pulled out her gun, releasing the green flare in the air.

They waited for about ten minutes, meanwhile nothing happened.

"Did he not notice the signal or something?" The tall woman asked in confusion.

"No..." Levi spoke evenly. "I doubt we can expect this to work reliably."

"I didn't sense any change in him." Levi kept his eyes on the well as Hange let out a soft,'huh?' "I can sense minute changes in your auras, even emotions if strong enough. I only felt a flicker of confusion from him."

They urged the horses forward closer to the well. Once by it, standing about five feet away the captain called out.

"Hey, Eren! The test's off for now!"

All three dismounted, peering in from the sides.

"Did something happen?" Hange asked.

She flinched when she saw the blood pouring from his hands, it was all over his chin and mouth too. Her inner medic wanted to treat him, but watched silently as the other two looked on.

"Ms.Hange," Eren's eyes were wide, "I can't turn into a titan."

"Get out of there, Eren." Levi commanded at him.

Following the instructions, the boy climbed up slowly, making flinches everytime the damaged part of his hands touched the rope. Getting to the top, Sakura helped pull him over and sit with his back against it. She peered at his hands, ignoring the section commander behind, see as his hands were only damaged from the bite marks. Levi had made a displeased noise behind her. Ignoring him also, she grabbed a rag from Hange and started to wipe the blood off of the boy, he was too busy with an internal struggle to even notice her. Turning, she looked at her captain.

"May I heal him?" He caught her eyes, catching on that her words meant different than what he thought. He shook his head no.

"We want to track his self healing. Just clean it and wrap it."

She sighed, expecting they wouldn't want him to be babied. She did just as she was told, even helping him to a horse so they could ride back to the group for dinner. Once there, they had all set it up to eat outside at a table. The rest of the squad had become curious, eventually all sitting to drink tea and converse. Levi and Sakura standing off to the side.

"Not even the bite wounds on your hands have gone away?" The short man inquired.

"No, sir." He fiddled with his bandaged hands, staring down at the table.

"If you can't turn into a titan, our whole idea for plugging up wall Maria goes up in smoke. Figure it out. That's an order."

"Yes, sir." He looked sadly up to the retreating captain.

Petra had gotten up to go talk to him, walking over to where the two where standing. He was sipping his tea as the ginger tried her best to see if there was anything she could do to help them. Sakura watched from her spot beside them, ignoring the two, to look at the group sitting at the table.

"Don't lose heart, Eren." Eld spoke to the boy.

"B-But-"

"This just means you're more human than we thought." Orou added in, his chin rested in his palm. Green eyes narrowed at that.

"It's a lot better than ending up dead because you were too hasty." The blonde continued. "It wasn't a waste of time."

"Yeah," Gunther spoke up, "there's no such thing as being too careful."

She watched as Eren just gazed between them, slightly confused. He went to reach for his spoon, slightly grabbing it when his face scrunched up in pain and he ended up dropping it. She frowned slightly as her eyes softened, she wish she was allowed to heal him.

"You okay?" The blonde man across from him raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah.." Eren replied back weakly.

He went to reach down to get the spoon, hand stretched out and just barely touching it when it happened. It felt like a spark in the air, Sakura and felt the dark haze appear for a brief second, her hackles rising before steam smacked into all of them. The pressure had knocked back the men he was sitting by, the picnic table splintering. She blocked her face with her forearm, waiting for it to pass, and then she saw Eren. He was partially stuck in a malformed body, it was just an arm and some rib cage and spine. He was dazed for a second before he started to attempt to pull himself out. She was pulled out from her distractions and she watched the others become hostile. Her eyes narrowed, shooting daggers at all of them and rushed towards him. She went to take a step forward, not even going to bother using her speed, when Levi had grabbed her arm and gave her a look. He moved to intercept them, standing in between them all and Eren. Sakura stopped, thinking about if she could weigh in on his trust to protect the boy or not.

"Why? Why now?!" Said boy was still too focused on trying to get out of the body, yanking at his arm painfully.

"Calm down." Levi spoke evenly.

"Captain Levi, I don't know how to-" he looked over his shoulder. The four members of the squad were armed and facing at him with angry looks, all prepared to slice him down. Levi stood a few feet from him, holding up a hand.

"I said, calm down. All of you."

Pushing in between Petra and Orou, Not even bothering to look at them as they barked warnings, she walked towards Levi. He gave her a look but she proceeded to ignore him, stopping by him and looking up at Eren. Only looking away from his scared eyes as she felt Hange approaching in the distance.

"What? What was that sound?!" The tall woman yelled. Screaming and jumping in excitement as she saw the current predicament.

"Eren!" Eld yelled at the boy. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"S-Sir?"

"Why did you do it without permission?! Answer me!" His face full of anger.

"-Wait Eld." Levi tried to gain control.

"Answer him, Eren! Explain yourself!" Orou jumped in.

"No. That can come later." Gunther took a few steps forward, eyes burning into the boy. He stopped in his steps when he saw the piercing green ones below the boy, emitting a deathly feeling. Not to give up he continued. "First, you need to prove you aren't hostile towards us, no, towards humanity!"

"H-huh?"

"Prove it! Now!" The man's face was scrunched together in anger. "You bear that responsibility!"

"If you so much as twitch that arm of yours, that head of yours comin right off!" Orou yelled. Sakura snapped her head towards him, tightening her fists at her side. He flinched as he noticed her but put all his focus back into the boy and not the small woman. "I'll do it, too! I really will! Try me!"

"I'll kill you first." Her voice came out like venom. That caused a few to flinch, even earning her a stern look from Levi.

"Orou, I told you to calm down!" He was getting agitated at this feud.

"Captain!" Petra called out to him. "Please get away from Eren! You're too close!"

"No, you're the ones who need to get away. Step back-"

"-why, sir?!" She interrupted him.

"A gut feeling." He glanced at Sakura. Her eyes held promises of death for someone, that was for sure.

"What's the deal, Eren!" Eld joined back in. "Say something!"

"S-seriously, I-" He was stuttering out, clearly scared.

"-don't try anything funny!"

"-prove to us!"

"Eren!"

"-answer the question!"

"-do you think we won't kill you!?"

"Would you all shut the fuck up?!" She yelled from under him.

They all stared at her in shock. Eren, who had been about to yell out something along the same lines, just not as profound took a moment to just stare at her. She looked like a hell cat, with the fact she was close to baring her teeth and that her eyes were almost a glowing green...Wait, he might know-

"Eren!" He jerked up when he heard Hange. She was blushing mad and running at him like he was a Christmas present. She knocked two soldiers out of the way. "Can I touch that arm?! Please?! Can, I?! Pretty please?! I just wanna touch it!"

"Ms.Hange!" He looked at her almost pleading to stop. The woman was drooling after all. She started to inch towards the arm. "Wait! Don't-"

She held her hands up against the deformed titans. Pausing before reeling back in pain.

"Hot!" She jumped around, landing on her knees as if she was about to pray. Sakura stayed rooted where she was, giving up her glare for an exasperated at Hange. "Damn! It's hot when there's no skin! I'm talking crazy hot!"

"Section commander!" One of the soldiers was trying to get her to calm down. "You live like a maniac!"

At this point, even all of Levi's squad had lowered their guards to stare bewildered at her. Eren had even stopped his attempts at pulling himself out just to blink at her ridiculousness.

"Say, is it not hot for you, Eren?" She jumped up to her feet, spinning to talk to him. "How is it connected to your right hand?! I really wanna see!"

As if he just remembered being partially stuck, he snapped his eyes back down to his arm. Sakura looked up at him to see what he was doing. He was yanking at his arm once again.

"Come on!"

"H-hey." Orou lifted his swords up, stuttering as the small blonde woman had turned to glare at him even before he could finish his motion. "Eren! Don't try anything funny!"

He pulled hard enough, and in one go his arm went sailing into the air, free from the tissue under him. Steam followed suit in the ark caused by his momentum, as he rolled off the deformed titan. Just before he hit the ground, Sakura had caught him in a convincing manner to the others. Holding a hand to his back, as he rested hunch over on the ground.

"Hold on, Eren!" Hange started crying out. "That was too soon! I still wanted to study it!"

Her sudden pause in complain caused Sakura to look at her. She saw Hange inspected the hand and looked away, woman was already playing with the body. Eren was breathing hard and looking down into the dirt. She had crouched down by his side, hand still on his back, as she looked up to Levi. He had walked forward, his eyes back to their normal harsh look, stopping just a foot away from the two.

"Captain..."

"How are you feeling?" She felt even Sasuke had more emotion that this guy, honestly she couldn't tell what he was thinking. He didn't look concerned as he asked.

"Not...very good.."

They had left back for the castle, everyone feeling that was enough for the day. As the night crept closer she found Eren sitting on the stairs, Levi closing in as well down the hall. Sitting down next to him, she didn't speak.

"I wasn't expecting it..."

"For them to treat you as a threat?" She looked over as she saw Levi lean against the wall next to the boy.

"Yeah.."

"People act different ways if they're scared."

"Until they actually turned hostile, I never realized how little they trust me..." He seemed so sad she wanted to give him some comfort, but she stayed in place.

"Of course they don't." The captain spoke in almost a whisper. "That's why I picked them. The common belief is that the first time you come back alive makes you a bonafide scout. But up against titans, there is never enough information. There are always too many unknowns and uncertainties. In which case, you need to be able to act quickly, and make a decision based on worst case scenario. But that doesn't mean they're cold and heartless."

He had looked over to her for the last sentence, it was something she knew well , but the mindset of the people here was different from hers back at home. Sure Konoha was peaceful, but that didn't hide how they were trained killers, paid to kill other humans, not giant monsters. Hell, she felt the shinobi she knew were far more trusting than this group. She gave a passive shrug and dropped the staring match. He continued.

"Pointing their blades at you like that, they couldn't have felt nothing."

"Captain Levi." Eld had been coming down the stairs. "Section Commander Hange wishes to see you."

Getting up they all followed him up into the room she was at. Sitting down at the tables was the rest of the team. Hange standing at the end with a small bundle in her hand.

"Were you taking a long crap?" The short man questioned the woman.

"Nope. A pleasant one." She leaned back and smirked. "I got stuck explaining things to top brass. But, anyway..take a look at this."

She put the bundle on the table. Unwrapping it to show the spoon on the inside. Sakura arched an eyebrow at her.

"A tea spoon?" Eren asked.

"Yep." She lifted it up, peering through her glasses. "That right titan hand you created was holding onto this. Between the index finger and thumb, like so."

"Huh?"

"It's hard to imagine that it was just sheer dumb luck." She looked at him. "And, somehow, it hasn't been warped or bent by the heat or pressure. Any thoughts on this?"

"As.. as I recall, I had went to pick it up, I transformed right after that."

"I see." She smiled at the spoon. "This might explain why you couldn't turn into a titan earlier. Killing titans, blocking a cannonball, lifting a boulder, in all the instances, you had a clear goal prior to transforming. It's possible that self inflicted harm isn't the only trigger. You might need to have a goal as well."

"It's true that this latest transformation, is similar to when I stopped that cannonball shot. But," he looked at this hand pathetically, "to transform to pick up a spoon...this is crazy.."

"In other words," Gunther spoke up, "you didn't break the rules on purpose?"

"That's right."

The members of squad Levi looked at each other, slowly nodding after a moment. They each began to bring their hands up to their mouths, each biting down in the same fashion Eren does. They had faces of scrunched pain, eyebrows knotted as they didn't instantly let go.

"Huh?" Hange started to shift in spot, looking in wonder at them.

"Wait..-What are you doing?!" Puzzled brown eyes came from the boy.

"Oww.." Eld spoke up. "That really hurts. Eren, I'm surprised you can bite down so deeply, like this."

"We made an error in judgement." Gunther chimmed in. "This is our small way of paying for that. So it's no big deal."

"Huh?"

"Our job is to keep you in check!" Orou's loud voice made its appearance. "And That isn't in the wrong! So don't get cocky, kid!"

"I'm sorry, Eren." Petra spoke softly. "We were so scared...you must be disappointed in our stupidity. But..even so...we'll be relying on you, and we'd like you to rely on us. So...please...trust us."

He looked away from her scarred hand and up to her face. Their horses still galloping fast away from the titan behind them.

"Eren!" Levi yelled back at him. "Hurry! Decide already!"

"I'll go with you!" He clenched his eyes tight, almost as if he were about to cry.

"Let go!" The voice jarred all of them, snapping them to attention. The man was in the hand of the female titan, they had turned in time to see her drag his body along the trees. His body being torn apart slowly almost as if he were a piece of chalk being crushed. She dropped him as soon as he body was nothing more than waist down.

Sakura clenched her teeth as she saw the titan leaning forward, to gain more momentum.

"Target is catching speed!" Eld spoke from the rear. "Keep moving! We're going to outrun it!"

They all kept their heads forward, except Sakura who was glancing over her shoulder. They were determined to follow each other's trust and continue on like they were told to. She saw Eren lean his head back, to look at the female titan, and saw his eyes narrow. Her head was reaching out to him, as she got closer the more wicked her eyes looked.

Sakura jumped when she realized they had just entered the cluster of signatures. All around her were soldiers hidden, all aiming weapons, some looking like cannons. She looked back in time to see the pure shock in the female titans face. The titan threw a hand up to her nape as commander Erwin yelled.

"Fire!"

The sudden barrage was loud, all the cannon like machines sending out hooks. There were so many flashes and bangs, not even being able to count how many we being used. The area was being lit yellow just from the lights being emitted. They had continued on their horses, following the same trail, no longer able to see what was going on through the thick cloud of smoke.

"Hitch your horses a little further ahead." Levi's voice broke out to them. "Then switch to ODM. I have to leave for now. Elds in charge of the squad. Hide Eren a suitable distance away from that titan. Look after my horse."

"Mine too." Just as he jumped up, he looked over to see Sakura in same position as him. She couldn't fake the ODM actually working, but she moved fast enough so she wouldn't have too. He sunk a hook into a tree behind them, setting the trek back to the female titan.

Following Levi as he landed on the branch next to commander Erwin, who wasn't surprised to see her, they looked over at the female titan.

"It looks like she stopped." Her captain spoke.

"We can't drop our guard yet." Erwin's deep voice floated out. "I'm just impressed you managed to lead her to this spot."

"The credit goes to the rear squad members who gave their lives fighting her." He spoke gravely. "They bought us time. It would have been impossible otherwise."

"Is that so?" Erwin's dead eyes made her question him for a moment inside her head.

"Yes." Levi looked down at the monster. "Thanks to them, we get to see who's inside this one's nape. Let's just hope they're not wetting themselves inside there."

Sakura looked down, not saying anything to what was just spoken. She had guessed for a while Erwin was using his soldiers to gain advantages he would need, she wasn't surprised. Levi was defending the people, somehow he was the caring out of the two. She narrowed her eyes at the sight she watched.

Those icy blue eyes aren't as scared as she thought they'd be.


	8. Loss

Viridian eyes watched as the rest of the squad was making it a safe distance away, soon leaving her visible sight. Flicking her eyes over to her captain as he begun to unsheathe his swords. He yanked out his right one, forming an arc before holding it at his side.

"Wait, Levi." Erwin glanced over at the shorter man. His own swords drawn at his side. "We need to be extra cautious. Waves 2 and 3! Fire!" He raised one arm straight up as he yelled. "Use the reserves too!"

Sakura flinched as all the cannons begin shooting hooks at the titan again. More and more lines criss crossing, hitting the female in every single angle and chunk of skin possible. All of her muscles being anchored in place.

The discharge had made it another light show. Eventually nothing but smoke remained, starting to dissipate as time went by. Everyone sat and stared at the form in front of them, she was unmoving while her hands still protected her nape. The two next two her had dark looks on their faces, but it was something about Erwin's that threw her off. He had looked empty, almost like a husk, there had seemed to be no emotion behind it.

Levi had moved to jump by Miche, who was only a branch or two by them. It seems those two were going to make the plan to attack first.

"How do you like that?" She glanced down at Hange, who was a few branches away. "Now you can't scratch a single itch or move a single muscle. And possibly never will again. The more your wounds heal, the stiffer your joints will get!" She had started to giggle before she paused, looking up towards them on the branch. "Still, why haven't they extracted our esteemed guest yet? What are Levi and Miche doing?"

Just as she spoke both men sprung into action. Coming down straight from the treetops, they started spinning to add speed to their attack. Sakura's eyes snapped down to the titan and she saw part of the skin on the hands turn into a crystal texture with light blue coloring to it. She watched as when the swords made contact with the hardened skin, them shattering instantly. Both floated in the air with the shattered metal flying around them. She saw Levi's face was dark and angry.

Miche had shot a hook up my Erwin, coming to land about ten feet away from him. He lifted to show the commander his broken swords, shaking his head with a sigh. Erwin's eyebrows lowered as he looked back to the titan.

"So She has the ability to cover portions of her body with hardened skin...much like the armored titan I've heard so much about. Would it weaken if we continued an ODM sword assault? There's time to try. In which case."

He had been whispering to himself, she had heard him clear as day. Blinking she thought over the strategy, she wasn't sure herself how she'd deal with it. Sure, the female titan managed to cover the area with the almost crystal skin, but it seemed to have dispersed almost as soon as the assault was over. Did she control the time and length of the crystal areas if it left the rest of her vulnerable? Lifting his hand, Erwin caught her attention once again, a soldier followed over at the gesture.

"Prepare to blast it." His eyes seemed slightly crazed. "Blow off the targets hands."

"Y-Yes, sir." He nodded at the commander. "However, there is a risk that our standard artillery can take out everything on the inside as well." He gestures to his neck.

"Then let's attempt to sever the wrists instead." He moves forward and grabbed the man's shoulder. "Fire an all out salvo on my signal."

"Understood."

The man jumped down to the people guarding the cannons. He made a hand motion and suddenly they were all moving and preparing without a single word being spoken.

Levi, in the mean time, had moved back over to the titan, landing on her head. He was gripping his swords tightly as he looked down in disgust.

"Hey." He spat out. "Just come out now, will you? We don't have time for this. Say, what do you think is going to happen to you now? Do you really think you can get out of this situation? I wish you'd given some thought to the trouble you've caused us. You've killed our men in all sorts of different kind of ways. Was it fun? Well, I'm having fun now. I take it you're the same way. If there's anyone who knows how I'd feel, it's you."

"Oh, right." He paused for a moment, continuing to glare. "There's one thing I need to ask. Will you be fine if your limbs get cut off? They'll grow back right? I'm talking about your actual body. Can't afford to have you die on us, after all..."

Sakura's eyes had snapped to the female titan's as Levi was speaking. The longer his small speech had gone on, the more those icy blue eyes began to twitch, harder and harder, as if shaking in her eye socket. She saw the small tensing in the jaw before she flash stepped, grabbing the captain in one swift move. She had felt the body tense after a split moment of being grabbed. She had appearing back on the branch next to a shocked Erwin. She had moved them in barely a blink of an eye. Not bothering to look at the very confused captain that was in her grip, her head had snapped back to staring at the titan, green eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Hey!" Levi began to fidget and snapped at her. "What do you-"

The female titans eyes widened. Her jaw dropped and let out and ear piercing scream. The soldiers all around her being whipped by the pure air and pressure her scream let out, most covering their ears while others turned away to form some protection. Erwin has raised his hands to his ears, squinting to attempt to see what was happening, Levi mimicking him in her arms. The screaming stopped. Everyone slowly lowering their hands from their faces.

"Damn." Levi let out, glaring once again at the creature. "You startled me there."

Sakura's head snapped up and looked all around them. She could feel all the titans that had been bordering the forest running towards their location. Her eyes widened, just how the hell were they supposed to beat this? Levi scrunched his eyebrows as he watched her whip her head in different directions, obviously confused.

"Sakura." She jumped, slightly forgetting about the man her hands were holding onto.

"It's-it's the titans." She couldn't tell how many there were, the dense smoke like signatures they had started to blend together. "A lot of them, and they're moving fast to."

He started to stand and she let go of him. Erwin had been staring at them, listening to what was spoken. Suddenly Miche kept flying up to them, landing between Erwin and them.

"Erwin." He had a deep frown. "I smell them."

"Which direction?" He looked at the other blonde man.

"All directions." His face turned grim. "All at once. Lots of them!"

Erwin's eyes shot wide open, first looking at the petite woman for a second then to shooting out to the area in front of him. Sakura stood up to her full height as the stomping got closer. The man's large eyebrows clenched together and he shoved a sword forward.

"Hurry up with the artillery!"

"Erwin." Miche spoke as him and Sakura had turned the same direction. "The first wave is coming from the east! They're close!"

"Wagon defense squad! Intercept them!"

Said squad had moved, flying in front of the titans expecting them to be distracted by humans being so close. Yet the titans continued to run by, completely ignoring them as if they were all abnormal. Erwin could only blink, a shadow was being cast over his face. His eyes were still wide as her heard the call.

"The titans have broken through!"

"She just did something," Levi spat out, "didn't she?"

Jumping down, he jumped into the fray, instantly killing one titan who had gotten too close. The rest watched as a small titan made it through, grabbing onto and then hitting the female titans leg. Staring with her eyebrows scrunched, Sakura could only guess that the scream was on purpose, with the fact the titans went straight to the female titan. She heard Erwin gasp as many more titans began to approach at face speeds.

"All soldiers!" He yelled out. "Commence combat! Defend the female titan at all costs!"

They had all jumped down, beginning to kill the titans left and right. The only problem was there was way too many. For each one killed, two more appeared, some managing to get through and start tearing up the female. Sakura watch from her perch up by the commander, eyes confused and worried. She wasn't going to get involved, she didn't know if this was a trap or what. The other titans had been devouring the females body, releasing some of the hooks as doing so. She clenched her hands as she continued to watch, either way something bad was about to happen. She watched as a small spot of blood flew up and hit Erwin in the face. Eyes snapping back down in time to see a titan rip off the female titans head. This seemed to be the final straw for the commander.

"All soldiers, withdrawal!" He yelled. Levi instantly by the blonde man's side, hanging from the trunk nearby. Watching as everyone followed his instructions as he continued. "Redeploy the formation! Return to the Calaneth district!"

They begun to move hurriedly around, some going to the bottom floor to collect supplies as others watched out for the titans Incase they turned on them. Some of them, worn out from the battle that had just happened, rested in the trees, taking the chance to take a breath.

"We've been bested." Erwin whispered out.

"What's with that pathetic look of yours?" The short man said with a blank face.

"This goes to show the enemy was prepared to throw away everything." His eyes stared down at the mess below him. "I never imagined our target would resort to titan cannibalisation to dispose of information."

"After all that blistering we did in the court room, this is how it turns out..." He spoke gravely. "If we waltz back in there now, who knows what will happen to Eren or us.."

"We can think about that once we return. For now we need to focusing on returning without sustaining any further loses. For now."

Sakura stared ahead at the mess of titans, the decaying bodies around them all letting out a mass of steam. It was obscuring their fields of vision and going up slightly into the sky.

"I'm going to get my squad." Her captain spoke, gaining her attention. She turned towards him as Erwin replied.

"Wait, Levi." He didn't move his eyes away from the forest floor. "Replenish your gas and blades first."

"We're low on time and I have enough to last already." He attempted to argue. "Why?"

"That's an order." His blue eyes locked into the dark ones in front of him. "Do as you're told."

"Whatever you say, Erwin." He looked away, preparing to move. "I'll trust your judgement."

She didn't move from her spot right away, standing by the commander as she turned to face him. She gave him a questioning stare before asking him.

"You noticed, didn't you?"

"Yes." He sent her a glance before looking back down.

"I couldn't feel which way they went." She sighed. "I only realized it as everyone had been dispersing."

"Can you find them?"

"The squad or the missing enemy?" She crossed her arms. She'd be able to do both easily, she could pinpoint the squad but there were a couple lone soldiers moving around the forest.

"Focus on the squad." He turned towards her. "Follow your captain's order and keep Jaeger alive."

She nodded, disappearing from his sight. She waited till Levi broke the tree line to follow him. Bringing herself in his line of vision as she jumped from branch to branch. He swung his way up to her, looking at how she was crouched on the branch with no support.

"Captain Levi." He nodded at her. "The squads in the West direction. I can lead you to them."

"For once I'm thankful of your magic."

"It's chakra." She rolled her eyes, moving slow enough for him to see her, but fast enough to where they made distance.

"Whatever."

They had begun to move along through the trees when two faint sounds caught her attention. She looked up to see a small hint of green in the sky, her eyes narrowed, Commander Erwin had just called for a retreat her wouldn't use that. Just when she was starting to mewl over it, she lost her footing as flashes of chakra came into the edge of her senses. Sliding down a trunk partially, stopping herself with chakra, she held herself still with wide eyes. It was in the opposite direction of the squad, but it was making an almost SOS with the flashing signature. Levi stopped, peering at her with narrowed eyes.

She stared in distress towards the squad, feeling another civilian signature racing up behind them. The flares! They used the flares to trick the squad. Biting her lip as the larger chakra the other way continued to flash. She didn't know what to do, go to the chakra and leave the squad vulnerable? Go the the squad and leave her chance of possibly seeing her teammates again?!

"Hey, Sakura." Levi's voice had her head snap out to the point of a whiplash. He still had narrowed eyes, staring at her in confusion as to her sudden halt. God! She thought, if only there was more than just the two of-two! Her eyes widened and she quickly reached her hands up. With a puff of smoke, Levi recoiling beside her, as a clone of her, in her regular attire, cloak and mask, gave her a nod. The clone then rushed off, going back towards the way they came. Sakura jumped to land on a branch, waving her arm for him to follow.

"We need to hurry!" She called out to behind her.

"Why is that?" He flares ahead of him, not focusing on her. "Also, what the hell was that back there?"

"Good or bad news, either way." She narrowed her eyes, avoiding unnecessary branches in her way. "Something is happening in front and behind us! More importantly, there's someone heading towards the squad!"

His eyes widened at that. Did he not see the flares like she did? He seemed to speed up a bit, trying to keep up with her. She gasped as one of the signatures from the group disappeared. Horror filled her, Eren's there, no! This mystery person just killed someone on the squad! The squad seemed to slow down, one stopping at where the signature had blinked out. No, no!

She looked back at the captain, his eyes widening when he saw her fear struck one's. Her face had been kept straight, but Kakashi-sensei had always told her, her eyes gave her away.

She debated in her head, she didn't know what she should do. She felt lost.

She squinted her eyes, feeling her heart beat against her ribs. She watched the chakras moving in front of her, one grabbing the other that had just stopped. They were moving just as quick as they were, the problem is, she looked back at Levi, they were just far behind. They would have to catch up, and with the way the frantic signatures were ahead of them, it might be hard for her to lead Levi in the right direction without leaving him behind.

Almost as if in slow motion, she felt the four remaining of squad Levi grouped together, as the other signature backed off slowly. Her eyes widened, and hackles rised as she felt it. She felt the hazy aura appear out of thin air behind the squad. She stopped on a branch briefly to suck in a breath of air, clenching his fists tight.

She closed her eyes, feeling how they were engaging the female titan. Seeing the small ting civilian signatures flew around it like flies. Eventually the haze dropped slightly and stilled, the squad moving in to attack. They were making synchronized attacks, not letting up against her. One moving away from the group as the rest closed in. That one must be Eren! They must have told him to run away! Her eyes jerked open as she gasped. The closest one to the titan disappeared, someone else just died. Screw this! Screw the repercussions, she's making her stand! Looking back only to make brief eye contact with Levi, his eyes widened before she disappeared from his sight.

She moved as fast as she could, the trees around her just blending into one color from the speed. Orou's screams were the first thing she heard besides the whistling of air by her ear. The female titan was the first thing to come into sight, then the small ginger haired woman who was about to be stomped by a foot. She pushed herself, rushing in and slamming into the ginger haired woman, grappling onto her. Keeping her speed she jumped high and farther away, giving no time for the female titan nor the woman in her arms time to react. Using a tree trunk to stop her momentum, she ran up it slightly before using her chakra to dig into it, destroying part of the trunk in the process, she eventually came to a stop. Crouching off the tree trunk, perpendicular to the ground, she held the dangling woman by around the chest and under her arms. The woman hiccuped, in shock with tears streaming down her face, slowly looking up to the petite fake blonde above her. Sakura's eyes glanced down briefly, just to see the honey ones beneath her flooding out tears. They both tensed as they heard the ginger woman's name being yelled out. The woman under her flinched and screamed out a no, one that was if ignored.

"This is it!" Orou had yelled. He had attempted to slice at the titans nape, only for the sudden hardening of the skin to break his blades.

They both watched as the man was kicked through the air, smacking into several trees as he body flew like a rag doll, blood covering tree after tree. Sakura's heart was clenching in horror, if she had moved quicker and just made up her mind she could have saved them! She needed to stop being a coward!

The female titan stopped in her spot, and without realizing it from being distracted, Sakura noticed Eren appearing in the air not far from the titan. The girl in her arms seemed to be in shock, barely moving and probably just as unsure as her with what to do. Sakura snapped her head towards Eren as she realized what he was going to do.

"Eren! No-"

"-I'm going to kill you!" He screamed out just before he bit his hand.

Sakura focused more chakra to her soles as she clenched onto the woman, the air slapping both of them from his transformation. His titan came flying down, screaming as it landed and started to charge, shaking the forest around them. Jumping to a branch she put Petra down, she had just stared for a moment at the blonde, before attempt to catch up to Sakura who had leapt away, chasing after Eren. She caught up easily to both of them, leaving Petra behind and out of mind. Landing on the floor, she stood back as the two titans started to fight. Eventually Eren got a slight upper hand, using his strength he punched the female titan in the stomach, causing her to stumble back against a tree.

Shifting away from the tree, the female titan just stared at Eren as if in shock. His titan letting out a yell as it began to throw more punches, all of them being avoided. The female titan had ducked at one point, rolling away, she got to her feet and started to run, the brunette chasing her heels. Easily coming up behind them, she stood back on a branch, unsure of what to do at this point as they stopped in a more open area of the forest. Snapping her head as the other woman came into view.

"Petra, stop!" She yelled at the ginger. "You have to leave!"

"No!" Her honey eyes were crazed as she got closer to the fighting titans. "I'm going to avenge them and stop her!"

Clenching her jaw, Sakura jumped forward, intercepting the woman and shoulder checking her. Falling to the ground, the woman caught herself from getting her by throwing a hook into a tree, flying back through the air and landing on a branch. She sent the blonde woman a vicious glare. One that was returned with more force. Damnit! She can't watch over the titans and baby sit! She turned to see Eren sitting on top of the laying females body. He punched so hard into the ground his arm shattered and ripped all the way up. Screaming, he repeated the action with his other arm, also destroying it to shoulder. She stood with wide eyes as she just watched, what was she supposed to do?

His titan leaned over, screaming into the giant females face. Her head turning slightly as he continued his roars. He sat back, his hands in the air as his whole face was twitching in odd directions. The female titan had twitched, the only warning Sakura could give was to yell his name, as the the muscle armed reached up grabbing his arm. The two titans wrestled for a minute before the female managed to kick him off and into a tree. Standing up to her full height she looked over at him. Getting up he started to throw his punches, both moving so fast, Sakura didn't know how it was possible for creatures of that size.

She gasped as she saw Petra using the distraction, to fly over to the two titans. Attempting to use Eren as cover, she rounded behind the female, shooting a hook into her back. Sakura cursed before jumping over to help, landing on Eren's head as she knew she was too late to do anything. The female titan had shifted her head, knowing the ginger woman was behind her, using Eren's stretched out arm to throw the woman off balance. She flew towards the female titans face, and in a split second, was bit by her lower half. Sakura jumped forward towards the females head, but had to avoid another fist thrown by a now screaming Eren.

Landing on the ground she watched as the woman was spit out, smacking onto the forest floor. She watched as the female titan kept dodging, eventually her arm turning into crystal destroying Eren's mouth. He used it as a distraction to throw a punch that sent the titan flying through the air. She landed roughly, rolling up and dodging him again causing him to run into a tree. He was out of breath, panting as he used the trunk for support. He faced the female titan, his eyes going wide and him becoming paralyzed as he watched her get into a fighting position. Doing nothing as she destroyed his head, making it go flying off along with the tree that was next to him.

Sakura couldn't move from her spot, she had just watched it all happen. Her stomach had dropped the longer the fight had gone on, her confidence slowly disappearing. Suddenly something popped in the back of her mind, it was memories of her clone. She stared wide eyed, not paying attention to anything around her. Barely registering Mikasa coming into the area or the titan biting down on Eren's nape, collecting his body. She snapped out of it as the female titan began to run away.

"Give him back!" The other woman was screaming out.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously and determined. Moving fast along the trees, she took notice of the Ackerman following her. Coming up to the female titan, she jumped ahead, using herself as a distraction as she went flying through the air. The female titan looked at her with icy blue eyes, before looking back and covering her nape. Ignoring the petite blonde and focusing on the dark haired woman, Sakura used the advantage to pull out shuriken. She aimed at one eye, putting some chakra behind it, watching as it pierced, causing the titan to shut the eye.

"Give him back!" Mikasa yelled again, as she cut the Achilles' tendons of the titan.

The giant stumbled to the floor, giving them a chance to swoop down. The dark haired woman went first, going for the nape, only to have her blades break, shattering like a mirror around her as the hands blocking the neck had hardened. Taking a chance, the fake blonde pulled out more shuriken, pumping some extra chakra in to see if it would work, when it only slightly broke the skin, she cursed. She jumped back, perching on a tree, she knew that small weapons would already do little no damage, but she couldn't risk using her strength with Mikasa in the possible way.

"Why can't my blades penetrate it?!" Mikasa grumbled as she landed onto a side of a tree near Sakura, using the ends of her blades to hold her up. "He's alive!"

The female titan had looked over as the black haired woman yelled. "Eren is alive!" She began to change her blades. "Wherever you are, I'm going to slaughter this girl, butcher her body, and get you out of that foul place! Sorry, Eren, just hang on a little longer..."

"Move!" Sakura saw the titan tensing up, she had been waiting to hit the woman during her little speech.

Mikasa jumped in time, as the female titans fist splintered and destroyed the tree she had been on. Standing back up, the monster began to retreat once again. Following behind her, livid green eyes watched for an opening. She had felt her captain coming up, him grabbing the other woman. She was ahead of them, bouncing from tree trunks on either side of the titan. Not being so far ahead, she was able to hear Levi speak.

"Stay back for now." He told the young woman. "Maintain this distance. She must be worn out, too. She's not so fast anymore. It looked like she bit the entire nape off. Is Eren dead?"

"He's alive." Mikasa only looked forward in anger. "The target seems intelligent and intent on taking Eren away. It'd crush him if it wanted to kill him. Instead, it's fighting and running away with him in its mouth."

"Eating Eren could be her goal." He spoke emotionlessly. "If so, he's in her stomach. Which means he's probably dead."

"He's alive!"

He looked over at her, dark circles around his eyes. "Let's hope so."

"This never would have happened in the first place if you had actually protected Eren!" She spit out.

His eyes widened slightly. "Ah, so you're the one who... You're Eren's childhood friend. Let's narrow our goals to one. First forget about taking her down."

Even Sakura threw him a look over her shoulder for that statement.

"But she killed so many of our comrades!" The dark haired woman spoke out.

"It's impossible." Green eyes flashed determined when he spoke those words. "She has the ability to harden her skin. Do as I say. That includes you, Sakura." Said woman threw him a pinched look. "Were going to set all of our hopes on Eren being alive and rescue him before she leaves the forest. I'll do the cutting. You distract her."

"I can do more than just that." Her voice came out evenly.

They came up closer to the titan, Mikasa going in the front at her feet, Levi coming up from behind over her shoulder. As the titan started to look over her shoulder, the tiny blonde jumped along the dark haired females side. Throwing a kunai, she smirked when it hit the flesh, the tag attached to it flying in the air. Icy blue eyes had just started to turn when her captain stared to carve into her, with his spinning trademark maneuver. He stabbed into both of her eyes, beginning to pull back. Flying through the air, he began to change his blades.

"Keep going!" Sakura's voice cut in loudly. "Don't stop!"

She was trying to give him a heads up to the explosion she set off on the monsters leg. Her tag had stayed in place, knocking the titan back. Levi, who had blinked in surprise, went back to his attack all over her body. Cutting every major tendon and ligament he could find. The titan suddenly fell, her back against a tree as she held one hand up to her nape. Her and Mikasa continued to circle, he never let up once until the arm that was up in the air dropped limply at her side. Sakura paused as she saw the other woman sink a hook into the titans nape, only because Levi had yelled out, distracting her slightly. He was closer and went after her, from her position she saw the crystallized nape and the sudden hand come up. Levi pushed the woman out of the way, landing awkwardly on the large hand before turning and cutting the titans mouth open.

Moving fast, with the blonde hair whipping around her face, she dove in and grabbed the boy as soon as she had sight of him slipping from the titans tongue. Jumping up into the branches, she held onto the saliva covered boy. Mikasa and Levi both looking up and moving to her position.

"Eren!" The woman called out to her friend.

"Hey!" Levi caught in, his face taunt. "It's time to go!" He looked over at the petite woman and the boy she was holding. "He seems fine. He's filthy, but he's alive. Forget about her now. We need to withdrawal. Don't lose sight of what this operation is about. Is wallowing in self indulgence more important? He's a dear friend to you, isn't he?"

"No...I'm..." He ignored her as he started to swing away from the titan. Sakura coming up behind him, cradling the brunette against her, Mikasa following both.

Look back at both of them his eyes widened, she glanced over her shoulder to see what he saw. The female titan was laying there. Crying.

They had managed to reach by the rest of the formation. Sakura had handed over Eren to Mikasa, as Levi instructed her to hop on his back. He didn't want anyone else to know her secret than those who already did. As they came into sight of the wagons, Levi dropped down, with her on his back it was obvious to her there was a leg injury. Sliding off as quick as she could, mumbling a small thanks, she turned towards the two friends. The put Eren in a wagon, the dark haired woman climbing in. All the horses had been brought over, Levi's along with the group, Sakura chose the first one to approach her.

They had started to run back to the walls when Sakura thought over everything. It didn't settle well with her everything that happened. Between her actually going to the squad and the memories of her clone.

She squeezed her eye. It was a snake that had been flashing it's chakra. Nao-San. One of Sasuke's summons, a small green snake. He had been searching for her for days, since about the same time she landed in this land. Telling her that both Naruto and his master were out here, looking for her. He had talked to other animals, eventually getting words from the birds nearby that someone with a higher chakra than usual was spotted. Now that he found her, he would gladly report back where she was. He did mention how they were far away from her, so it might take a while for them to meet up.

Looking ahead, she felt her heart being torn into two different directions. Here she felt like she wasn't fighting enough for both sides. Slowing her horse as the formation itself slower, eventually everyone coming to a stop. Everyone was getting off their horses, standing around, resting, talking to each other or helping with body retrieval. From her position she saw Mikasa leaning over Eren, looking down at him with sad eyes. Her light green eyes moved over to the line of covered bodies, some still leaking blood through the sheets. Gazing down the line, she stopped as she saw a hand with a bite mark. Her eyes filling with shame, knowing that she could have saved them, if she had just used her chakra it would of ended differently. She watched from a distance, as Levi stopped at the same body she was gazing at. His eyes dark, tired and dark. He bent over, opening up the sheet covering the body. Pulling out a small knife he cut off the wings of freedom from Petra's jacket. Closing the sheet once done, lifting his body to walk away to the others of his team.

The day progressed and eventually they started lifting bodies into the wagons. She watched Armin and Jean lifting, going over to help them. Passing the bodies up, she didn't find it a right time to tell Armin it was her, she wanted some type of comfort herself.

"This is one thing I'll never get used to." Jean solemnly said.

"I doubt anyone could." They both paused staring at the bodies, leaving Sakura to just stare at them.

"How my comrades are going to die..how I'm going to die...that's all I start to think about..."

"I try not to think about it at all." Armin spoke softly. "Because if I started picturing my own death, I'd probably lose the ability to fight."

"Yeah..." Jean nodded "You're right."

As they walked closer to her, she pushed the body closer to them, finally speaking up.

"I think about the living." Armin looked at her, gazing his blue eyes into her green ones. "I think about my friends and comrades, even those I don't know."

"You're right also." Jean spoke to her, a light blush on his cheeks. She helped him lift the body up slightly, Armin grabbing the other side as the stacked in with the others.

"Sakura?" She hummed, and then blinked when she realized he said her name. She looked up at him, noticing his soft and sad eyes. "You were with Eren, weren't you?"

She nodded slowly at him.

"Thank you.." His voice cracked slightly. "I think I trust you...oh, and you're eyes are very recognizable."

She smiled softly at the boy. "I think I trust you too, Armin."

"Hey, Armin!" Jean spoke up. "We're finished with this wagon, we can leave."

Nodding to the both of them, she started to wander off. Ending up by her squads horses, well, at least just the three of theirs. Her captain's horse seemed to realize it was a sober moment for everyone around, just giving a low whinny to the woman. She rubbed the mare's face, letting it bring its head against her chest. Even the animals needed reassurance right now, she thought. She got pushed slightly to the right as her own stallion mimicked the mare, two large heads pressed up against her. Inconspicuously, she drifted chakra into the tips of her fingers and to the horses. They both seemed to droop with the welcoming warmth flooding through their body. She wasn't doing anything but just letting it travel through them, collecting it back to herself as she felt her captain approaching.

He gazed at her and the two horses, both with their heads lowered blinking slowly at him. She watched as he touched his mare, grabbing her rein and pulling her along towards Erwin. She took it as a cue, following along with her stallion. Reaching over to the blonde Commander they let go of the horses to stand a distance away from him.

"We're nearly finished, sir." A soldier spoke to him. "However, five or so bodies were unrecoverable."

"Not even pieces of them?" He asked evenly.

"The titans didn't leave much to recover." The man had a stern face. "I feel it'd be better for the families if we didn't bring back what's left."

"Put them down as missing." His eyebrows were forwarded.

"Yes, sir." The man glanced over. "We spotted several titans in the vicinity of the forest. But none have yet headed this way."

"We move at once." Erwin lifted his chin. "Inform the squads."

"Yes, sir."

"I refuse to accept this, Commander Erwin!" A soldier spoke up. Her and Levi watched as Erwin had originally been walking away only to stop when the voice appeared.

"Hey, you!" The man that was reporting tried to reprimand.

"We should recover them!" The blonde man's face looked dead to Sakura. "Ivan's body was right there in front of us!"

"There were titans there too! We could end up as casualties ourselves!"

"Then we can just take em out if they attack!" He pleaded.

"Ivan and I grew up in the same town!" Another man spoke up to the one stirring this issue. "I know his parents, too! I'd at least like to take him home!"

"Quit being selfish!"

"A bunch of beats arguing.."

"Captain Levi!"

"If you've confirmed his death." He looked at them firmly. "Then that's enough. He's dead. Whether or not we have his body, makes no difference."

"You can't be serious.." The one soldier whispered.

"Ivan and the others will be put down as missing." Erwin spoke up. "That decision is final. Just let it go."

Him and Levi started to walk away, Sakura slowly falling into step next to her captain. She had a small frown but knew what they were doing was the best option.

"D-do neither of you..." The original soldier spoke. "..have any human feelings, at all?!"

"Hey, Dieter! Watch what you're saying!"

Seeing as how they didn't stop walking, she didn't either. She could understand both sides views on the matter. Everyone got onto their horses, the squads all meshing into a giant mass formation. She was nearby her captain, running a bit behind him. They had been going for miles before she felt the disturbed chakras coming from behind them. Staring over her shoulder, she could see two titans riding up, along with two soldiers on horse back in front of them.

"Captain Levi." Said man turned to her voice. As he turned he followed her sight, seeing the blobs in the distance. He cursed lightly as another soldier had looked up and called it out.

"Titans at the rear!"

"That's...Dieter!" They looked on as the Said man had a body draped over him.

"That idiot." Said a man getting a flare ready. Shooting a red one for the whole formation to see.

"Titan spotted in the rear!" People called out to pass over.

"Full speed!" Erwin hollered at them, drifting closer to her and the short man.

"I don't see any large trees or buildings." Levi spoke up, unpleased. "We can't fight freely out here."

"Fleeing to the wall will be quicker."

As her captain slowed down his horse, she followed suit. She wasn't going to let him do anything while injured if she could. Sending one glance her way as they got closer to the rear. Turning, she watched as the titan swept an arm at the horses, causing the body of his friend to fall off, much to the horror on his face.

The other man on horse back was grabbed by the titan that was behind him. Screaming as he was held in its grip. Dieter stayed back to assist him, as the one titan that was holding itself, chased after the formation. Lifting her head up, she saw not only was it getting closer but off in the distance was three more titans running towards them.

" Captain Levi," He looked over, "three more coming from the east."

"Dammit." He stared hard ahead.

She felt Mikasa's signature fall back, racing towards the titan that had stopped. Her hand gripped her reins hard, as if about to turn her horse to join, until she heard the short man tell her not to. Turning, she saw the one soldier get sucked into the titans mouth. Dieter being grabbed and almost bit into until the black haired woman came swooping in. Cutting the back of the titans nape, killing it, her horse returning to her side, easily letting her hop back on. The man crawling out from its hand, clutching his shoulder.

Her attention was brought back to the titan not far away from her. She bit her lip as it was closing distance.

"It's not use!" A soldier cried. "It's catching up!"

"I'll get behind it and distract it! Use that chance-"

"-Don't bother." Levi pulled back as far as he could. "Dump the bodies, before it catches up."

"B-but, sir!"

"There've been countless people before whose bodies were left behind." He showed no emotion. "These ones aren't somehow special."

"Are...we actually going to do it?!" A man was holding onto the bodies, desperate not to lose them once again. The other man in the wagon was just standing, staring at the titans.

"Damn it." Glancing next to her, Levi was grabbing his leg, giving the titan a glare that could kill. If he was willing to fight then so was she. Her eyes set, she started to slow her horse down a little more, only to catch Levi's glare, it stopped her from slowing down even more.

"Don't you dare." He whispered. "Not unless I tell you to."

She frowned at him, but picked her pace up to be next to him again. Just as the standing man in the wagon yelled out.

"We got no other choice!"

They opened up the gate to the wagon. Slowly pushing the bodies out one by one. She looked away in shame as she saw Levi's stare at Petra's body flying through the air. The sheet had opened as her body bounced, ginger hair flying out as she rolled away. Clenching her eyes tight, Sakura willed all emotion to go away. The titan has started to back away, eventually leaving them to be able to out run it. Mikasa easily made her way back with the other soldier, falling right into place in the formation. They repeated the same as early, running until they hit another checkpoint.

Erwin set off a flare allowing another soldier to explain.

"We leave as soon as we've confirmed our positions!"

"Stay sharp!"

"We need to make a slight course correction towards the east-"

She blocked out the chatter around her, staring at the man, Dieter's back. She could feel for him, but he also just caused his other friend to be killed, and disrespected orders. Levi rode up, going up to the man and not herself. He jumped down from his mare and began reaching into his pocket.

"Captain Levi...i-i..."

Levi stares the man hard in the eyes. "This is proof that they once lived. That's how I see it, anyway. It's Ivan's."

Sakura gasped as she saw what he was handing over. Her eyes started to mist at the captain's offer, he was trying to play Petra's wings off as another man's to give him comfort. The man started to break down crying in front of the short man. She had to look away, she was an emotional person, but she also knew now that so was her captain. She heard horse hooves approaching and looked up to see him standing in front of her. The sad look on her face didn't disappear, she couldn't help but look into his dark grey eyes, they showed hurt in them, and heartbreak of their own.

"We're about to move out, get back on your horse." He looked into this distance, where Erwin was.

"Yes, sir." She jumped back on her stallion. Her captain started to gallop away and she followed him. Eventually hearing the call that everyone was to move out.

The closer they got to the walls the more everyone's emotions could be felt through the air. As they went through the gate for the wall, every soldier was silent, but not the civilians. They were were quiet at first, a low murmur, soon turning into blatant gossiping. Everyone but Erwin, Miche and Hange has dismounted their horses. Sakura held her stallions reins loosely, staring to the floor, not having any courage to look up. She was walking behind Levi, ever since walking through the gate he had kept his head straight.

"Is it just me or there's fewer of them than this morning?"

"A lot fewer."

"Another bad one..."

"They left this morning shouting and roaring, now they're already back?"

"What did they even leave for?!"

She gripped onto the rein a little stronger, the crowd around them was starting to become more and more unwelcome the further they got in.

"But from the brooding looks on their faces I'd say they've succeeded in pouring our tax money down the drain."

"Captain Levi, sir!" Sakura flinched as a man spoke his name happily. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter!" Now she could only squeeze her eyes shut. I'm Petra's father. I'd like to discuss something before she spots me. She sent me a letter, you see! She said she was assigned to serve you because you recognized her skill! She said she wants to devote her all to you! Basically the girl's so starry eyed that she has no idea how worried her parents are. So well, as her father, you see, i feel like it's a bit too early to let her get married. She's still young and has so much to experience-"

"Sir." The man looked back at the petite blonde walking behind them. "I'm sorry, but can I request you remove yourself from the formation? There is an upset group ahead, we wouldn't want you to get injured."

"Ah!" He laughed. Her heart was breaking inside for the Captain. "No, it's fine, I understand, I need to hide before she sees me anyway!"

With that he moved back into the crowd. She didn't dare take her eyes off the captain, only imagining what that must have felt like. She wondered if he even knew the young woman had loved him. Looking past him, she heard the cries of the crowd ahead, she hadn't lied to Petra's father, but she did use it as an excuse.

The citizens were yelling for justification, was everything really worth losing their lives over? Did they gain anything from the mass amount of casualties? Did all the soldiers die without regrets?

The costs and casualties incurred by this lasted exterior expedition dealt a blow heavy enough to destroy the scouts regiment support. Erwin's and the others in charge had found themselves summoned to the capital and ordered to hand Eren over.

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I'm going to try and update every few days!

Thank you for the friendly reviews! =)


	9. Crystal

9

She stared at the blonde woman with icy blue eyes, no hints of hiding her hate of the woman. She had been walking next to the wagons, her genjutsu covering her regular self. Her mask was on and hood was up. She was instructed to stay towards the back, that it would be easier to find the target. She spotted her a little ahead, stopping in her steps on the road ahead of the woman, eyes narrowing dangerously. She eyed the woman up, this blonde, shorter than her, was the female titan. Strangely she looked almost exactly like her titan form, more so than Eren did his. As everyone else was moving ahead, the military police also started to move up. She followed silently as she the blonde woman clutched onto her rifle, light jogging to stay with the group.

Armin was hidden in the alley way, he called out to the blonde, Annie. Green eyes stared intensely as the woman paused, letting others of her team move ahead, before she jogged towards into the alley, stopping in front of Armin.

"Hey." He kept his face straight. "Looks like you're a full fledged MP now."

The blondes eyes widened for a moment before her eyes casted back into a half lidded stare.

"Why are you dressed like that?" She pointed out Armin's raincoat.

"I'm a cargo carrier." He lifted the front of the coat open to show her. "I'm hiding ODM equipment under this gear. See?"

"What is this all about?"

"Annie," Armin pulled his hood down and kept a straight stare at her, "could you help us let Eren escape?"

"Escape?" Her voice was flat. "To where? Defying the governments orders. Where is there to run inside these walls?"

"We just need to hide him for a while. We won't be overtly rebelling against the government. It'll basically be an act of defiance by part of the scout regiment. We're going to buy enough time to gather some things that will unquestionably over turn the councils say in the matter."

Under her mask, she raised her eyebrows. Armin was basically telling her their current plans, telling the truth but not in the way Annie would think he's talking about. She had to admit, he knew how to talk.

"Overturn it?" Her dead stare was still on him. "There's really something that handy? How are you so sure?"

"I'm sorry. I can't say."

"Sorry." The woman sighed. "But I can't help you. I won't tell anyone, though. Good luck."

She turned around at that and started to walk away. If she tried to leave the alley, Sakura would attack right then and there. But the woman stopped at Armin's desperate plea.

"Please! They're going to kill Eren!" The woman stopped in her tracks. "A bunch of people who know nothing are unwittingly pushing humanity towards the brink of self extinction! Simply to save their own necks! I realize this sounds less than convincing. But even so, we have no choice but to bet on everything now! Of course, we'll try not to cause you any trouble. But we absolutely need the military polices help to sneak him through wall Sina's security checkpoint! This is our only option left!"

"Tell me." The woman looked over her shoulder at him. "Do I look like that good of a person to you?"

No, you look exactly like the evil female titan, Sakura thought to herself.

"A good person..." Armin looked down at the ground. "Actually..I've never been fond of phrasing it that way. Because, to me, it feels like it's only used to refer to people you use for your own connivence. And I don't think there's anyone who's convenient to everyone. Which is why, if you say no to this...that'd make you a bad person in my eyes."

Sakura tensed as she watched the blonde woman reach for her rifle. She didn't aim it at the boy, rather stretch it out in a ceremony method and leaned it against the wall.

"Okay." She turned towards Armin. Green eyes narrowing as she saw the woman pull out a ring and put it on her index finger. "I'll do it."

Armin proceeded to guide her to where they had hidden Mikasa and Eren. The two also wearing large raincoats. They spoke lowly about the plan and walked through the streets. All but one aware of the invisible tag along. No street was filled, all of the empty with warnings from ahead. Eventually Eren tried to break the silence.

"We got through surprisingly easily." He said lowly to the group.

"Shh!" Mikasa sounded behind him.

"That's the mighty military police for you." He look dispassioned at the woman in front of him, paying no head to his friend. "Goes to show what kind of work they do."

"Don't look around at everything." The black hair woman added in.

"Let's just hope they haven't realized Jean took my place. That definitely wont last for long. He and I don't look nothing alike!"

"It'll be fine." Armin glanced over his shoulder. "You both have the same sort of mean, nasty look to you."

"I don't have his horseface!"

"Say." Annie broke in. "How are you planning to get out of the wall if I hadn't agreed to help?"

"We were going to barge through using ODM." Armin looked at her.

"That's crazy." Her half lidded blue iced stared ahead. "Couldn't you have just escaped before reaching Stohess to avoid all this trouble in the first place? Why'd it have to be here and now?"

"I studied this towns lay out system, deciding that this would make our body double ploy more likely to succeed." The boy blonde continued. "Plus, acting dutifully and keeping their defenses down will buy is far more time to escape than a head on opposition would."

"I see." The woman looked back ahead. "Good point."

Sakura saw Eren and Mikasa share a look.

"Oh!" Armin exclaimed. "Over there!" He went running towards the underground passage. All of them stopped around it, the three in front of Annie.

"Here?" She asked emotionlessly.

"Yeah." Armin spoke. "We're going through here. It's what's left of the underground city they were planning to make. It leads to the vicinity to the outer gate."

The three in rain coats started to walk down the stairs, not instantly realizing the blonde who didn't follow. Narrowing her green eyes, she stayed close but not within arms reach of the woman.

"Really?" Eren mumbled. "That's amazing."

He was the first to notice she wasn't coming with them, turning around he called up to her. "Oh, man." He exaggerated. "Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark, cramped places or something?"

"Yes, I am." She put on a fake scared face. "I doubt a brave, suicidal maniac like you would understand how a delicate damsel feels."

"Any damsel who can flip a grown man upside down still isn't weak at all." He started to walk back down the stairs. "Cut the crap! Let's hurry!"

"No." She called out to them. "I'm not going. I'm afraid to go down there. I'm not helping unless we stay above ground."

"Quit being stupid!" Eren yelled at her. "Just get down here! Quit screwing around!"

"Eren!" Mikasa stopped him. "Don't shout!"

"I'm sure it's fine, Mikasa." The woman spoke. "Because, for some reason, this whole area...has been completely deserted for a while. Man...that really hurts...at what point did you start looking at me that way...Armin?"

"Annie.." He replied to her softly. "Why did you have Marco's ODM gear? It had all the same scrapes and bumps, I could tell because I helped him do maintenance on it."

"Yes.." She whispered. "I found it and took it."

"Then..those two titans we captured alive...was it you who killed them?"

"Who knows." She whispered, looking down the street. "But if that's what you suspected a month ago, why didn't you do anything then?"

"Even now I can hardly believe it..." He spoke harshly. "I just...wanted to believe I had it all wrong...that's why I didn't...still..back then...the fact that you didn't kill me back then..is why were in this situation right now.."

"Yeah.." She still hasn't looked at them. "I agree with all my heart. I'd never imagine you'd end up cornering me like this. Why didn't I do anything then..?"

"Hold on, Annie!" Eren yelled to her. "There's still a chance you're going along with this as part of some horrible, idiotic joke! Just get down here!" He stepped forward. "There's something you can prove by just coming down here! Just come down here!"

"I can't go down there." She looked down at the ground. "I'm a failed warrior."

"I'm being serious here! This isn't funny!"

"Talk to us, Annie! We can still discuss this as-"

"Enough." Mikasa stepped forward, her hood falling down as she yanked the rain coat off herself. Showing her full ODM gear. "I can't listen to anymore of this. It's pointless." She unsheathed her blades. "I'm going to carve you up again...female titan!"

Sakura watched disgustedly as the said woman started to blush and giggle like a mad man.

"Armin..." Annie's voice became sickly sweet. "It's nice I could be a good person for you. For now you've won your bet." Her voice deepened. "But... my bet begins now!"

The blonde's hand had twitched. Sakura took this as the signal. Dispersing her genjutsu, her cloak billowing around her, she jumped behind the blonde, moving quick to put her in a body lock, both arms under hers and behind her neck, tightening so the woman's were stretched out to the side. The blondes eyes bulging as she stared at the trio in front of her. Armin moves quick, releasing an acoustic shell. Others rushing from all over dressed as civilians. Getting close to Sakura they began to throw restraints on the blonde woman, more piling on her, putting a gag into her mouth and holding down each limb. Peeking over the blondes shoulder, the kunoichi saw Mikasa stop Eren from intervening. Suddenly watching her eyes go wide, grabbing at both the boy and yanking them down further. Sakura only had a mili second glance at the blondes hand. Her ring! It opened up into a small prick for her to hurt herself. Apologizing in her head, she let go of the crazed woman, jumping back to the rooftops behind her.

The bolt of light caused Sakura to squint her eyes, making both her arms fly up to protect her face. She heard the screams and sounds of death below her as rubble and part of the buildings were torn up, the wind and pressure suddenly throwing against her, forcing to use chakra at her feet. Bodies part were flying as their bodies had been smashed by the creation of the titan. Through her mask, she could only see a glimpse of what was happening. The outline that was standing tall filled her green eyes with promises, that this time, she was going to commit. The wind and dust started to clear. She was not going to let this plan happen.

Several days earlier...

"What's taking so long?" Levi stared darkly at the floor. "Where the hell are Erwin's men? At this rate, the military polices escort are going to show up, before them."

He took a sip of his tea. "Must be having hell of a hard time taking a shit."

Sakura sat next to him, giving him a small frown and head shake.

"You're very talkative today, Captain." Eren attempted to make light of the situation.

"Don't be stupid." He raised his tea again. "I talk plenty."

He finished the rest of his tea, only to wince slightly and grab at his leg. Sakura perked up and looked over at him, wondering if she should just go for it.

"I'm sorry." Eren spoke lightly. "If only I hadn't of made-"

Yeah, she's going for it.

Getting up she walked over to the short man, stopping to kneel in front of his seared position. He lifted an eyebrow at her actions, only to pinch them when she put her hands on either side of his thigh, Eren had stopped mid sentence and blushed at her antics. Slowly, her face began to light up along with the captain's shirt, from the chakra being dispelled from her hands. Both the men flinching at it, she put a small smile on, probing his leg with blue chakra at first, finding the source of his injury. It was a fracture across his fibula, something of no sweat to her, easily flooding in green chakra now, changing the light being emitted.

Levi said nothing, just stared at her like she was a bug crawling on his leg, his eye twitching lightly, while Eren was looking on with amazement. Feeling she healed him perfectly, she tapped the side of his calf, smiling a little more when he didn't flinch or grunt. Letting go of him she stood back up to her height, her long pink hair falling down her back once again. He adjusted his legs a few times before blinking at her stupidly.

"-made the wrong choice then..." Eren thought for a moment before shaking his head, turning back to Levi. "None of this would have happened."

"I told you." He looked pointedly at Sakura. She lifted an eyebrow, then proceeded to ignored him, lifting her green eyes to look out at the door. "No one knows how things will turn out."

"Sorry I'm late." Erwin opened said door. She ignored the exasperated look her captain gave her again. Really, she felt like at this point if she stared at a door they'd get the hint.

"Not at all...huh?" Eren was trying to form his sentence as he stared at his friends walking in.

"We believe we found out who the female titan is." Erwin's voice gained his attention again.

"Huh?!"

"We will capture her this time." He pulled out a map as Jean, Mikasa and Armin sat down at the table with them. "We do it, the day after tomorrow, while passing through the Stohess district on our way to the capital. This will be our first and last chance at her. Once on the other side the government will take custody of Eren, and well have difficulty on investigating those bent on destroying the walls. Both of which will foster mankind's destruction. Well have to bet everything on this operation. The plan is this, while passing through Stohess, we use Eren as bait, to lure the target into the underground passage. -

"-Given the target's size and strength, if we can get her as far down as possible, we should be able to immobilize her, in her titan form. But, in the even that she transforms before then...it'll be up to you, Eren."

"Yes, sir." He looked up at the Commander. "Are we certain the target will actually be in Stohess, then?"

"Yes." Erwin gave a very focused stare into Eren's eyes. "The target is a member of the military police."

"The military police?"

"It was Armin who identified her." The young blonde and brunette looked at each other. "We believe that she killed the two titans that we had caught alive..." The older man leaned in catching the dark green eyes again. "...and that she might have trained with you in the 104th cadet corps."

"H-hold on a minute!" His eyes were wide. "The 104th cadet corps..."

"The name of the girl believe to be the female titan..."

"Y-you can't be serious..." His jaw starting to go slack.

"...is Annie Leonhart."

"Annie's the female titan?!" He spoke loudly and confused. Sakura blinked, going through her memory to see if she had met this soldier. "What makes...what makes you think that, Armin?"

"The female titan knew what you looked like from the start." The blonde lowered his eyes. "Plus she reacted to your nickname of, 'suicidal maniac.' Something only our classmates would know. The biggest reason, though, is that I believe she killed the two subjects Sawney and Beane."

"How do you know that?" He lowered his voice.

"Killing them would have required real skill, so she would've use the ODM gear she's grown accustomed too."

"Yeah.." The brunette looked at the table. "But, they held the equipment inspection. Annie's was fine."

"Because she presented Marco's gear. That's how she avoided being caught."

"H-huh?!" Eren gasped out. "What are you saying? What's Marco go to do with this?!"

"I'm not sure." She could see the pain in the blondes eyes.

"Maybe what you saw was wrong?"

"No, I definitely recognized-"

"Hey, kid." Her captain spoke up. "We get it. Any other evidence to share?"

"No, sir."

"I personally think Annie and the female titan look alike." Mikasa's dark grey eyes looked over at the short man. Eren shot up to his feet.

"Hey!" He looked incredulous. "Are you crazy?! What kind of evidence is-"

"So, basically," Levi broke in again, "we're going after her without any proof."

"Without proof?" Eren whispered. "You can't be serious? Why? What if it isn't Annie?"

"If it isn't Annie, she can be cleared of any suspicion." The black haired woman narrowed her eyes.

"I'll feel bad for causing her trouble if that happens." Armin spoke after her.

"But..."

"If we do nothing, the government will make a sacrificial victim out of you."

"...you guys are crazy, distrusting Annie." Eren couldn't fathom it.

"Eren." Her grey eyes still narrowed slightly. "Does this not ring any bells about Annie for you?" He gasped. "You fought hand to hand with the female titan. Did you see her using any techniques that only Annie has used? You know, don't you? That the female titan is Annie."

Her light green eyes held pity for the boy, his heart looked like it had been broken.

Present time

Her light green eyes glanced at the area surrounding the female titan, the gore she had created in a circle around her. She stood silently on the roof, watching the titan reach her arm into the tunnel below, Sakura not worried a bit that they would have run the other way, following Mikasa's guidance. She was just briefly running down all her options, she didn't want to jump ahead without considering all of the possible future. Watching the blonde straighten up, move a little further down before stomping into the ground, the tunnel they were in, made the pink haired medic snap straight up. Annie pulling her foot out with the remains of a human or possible two on it. She was officially pissed, screw anything the future gotta try and bring against her.

"You monster!" She screamed.

The blonde barely looked over her shoulder at her figure, just a quick glance before looking back at the ground, as if judging where to stomp again. Sakura's eyes almost turned into slits with the glare she was creating. Reaching into her thigh pouch, she pulled out a two kunai. One had a tag and the other didn't, keeping a hold of the one that didn't she threw the other. It landed its mark in the titan's left thigh. The titan glanced over expecting it to be ODM gear, the shinobi smirked under her mask, noticing the blue eyes look around, expecting the person. The tag exploded, catching her completely off guard, her large body trying to make up for having her balance being thrown off. She was bent over, trying to get back up, the blast had taken out a good chunk of leg, but it could heal in no time.

Before Sakura moved she noticed two figures coming out from different spots of the tunnel, both with hoods on. She cursed to herself, not knowing who was who. Only to curse more to herself as Annie used a good arm to swing into the tunnel top, causing another collapse.

"Eren!" She snapped her head, that's Armin! He went flying into the air using his gear.

Her head snapped again, in the other direction, to see the other figure, realizing it had to be Mikasa, coming to the titan quick. As she got close enough, the large hand was about to grab her. Acting quick Sakura flashed into the air, grabbing the woman and jumped onto the rooftops close by, throwing the other kunai at the titan, hitting her in the eye. The black haired woman struggled for a moment, until the kunoichi let go of her.

"Annie!" She yelled. Dashing off to fight the titan. "I won't let you have Eren!"

"God damn-" She was whispering to her self but stopped at a voice screaming.

"Eren!" The pink haired woman looked away from the fight to see Armin reaching the rubble from the last hit of the tunnel. Jumping down quickly, she landed by the blonde boy, both noticing the brunette stuck under a slab of concrete. "I'm coming!"

They both moved forward, Sakura looking over the boys face, it was closed and had blood running from it. Yet somehow, she could see slightly from his throat moving, he was breathing. Armin has started to attempt to lift the broken architecture from the boys body. Sakura grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"I'll do it." She spoke sternly.

While Armin had struggled to barely even lift it a centimeter, the kunoichi had no issue lifting it as if it were a piece of paper. He had gasped as she easily flipped the broken slabs with one hand as she held the other, with a glowing green light mind you, on the boys head. His hips down were flattened like a pancake, his abdomen had rupture and was pouring out from the side, broken ribs, arms broken and bent in odd directions from the debris...

Sakura felt the grey mist coming closer before hearing the titans approaching thumps. Looking up from the severally crushed body, she saw the Ackerman attempting to stall the giant blonde woman.

Getting fed up of the scout, the titan swept a hand across the rooftops, sending more debris into the woman who was in the air. Sakura winced as she saw the woman fall to the ground, getting ready to jump up as she watched the woman roll down the road until she stopped. The giant blonde turned to face them again, making her way closer, step by step. Her green eyes widened, switching her attention to the, definitely soldiers, whose chakra that was closing in.

"Attack her but don't try to kill her!" They were flying through the air. Attempting maneuvers, like flying by the titan but using a spin to throw another person towards the woman. It wasn't working though, they were steadily being killed off by her. Grabbing their strings to throw them around, fling them from their paths or just plain using her hand to smash them. Getting fed up, Sakura let go of the brunette in front of her for a moment. Quickly making the hand signs, she created four clones of herself. Armin was watching, shocked still her jutsu, but also with a very upset and worried face.

"Two of you go to the soldiers fighting." She groaned internally, feeling the black haired woman going back towards the fight. "Get the others out of there and watch her back. The other two, split up, one report to section commander the other to the captain."

All four clones nodded and disappeared from their sight. Sakura turned back to the injured boy in front of her, he wasn't exactly healing, she'll be honest she didn't know where to begin, but he wasn't dying either, which added to her confusion. Another signature was coming this time to them. She sighed, everyone being civilians made this place more difficult than it should be.

"Eren!" Armin called desperately to the boy. "Say something!"

"Hey!" It was Jean, he landed close by and ran over. "What the hell are you doing?! Who is that?!"

"Jean!" The blonde replied for her. "Eren was crushed under here! That's Sakura, she's an ally, just focus on Eren!"

"Huh?!" He narrowed his eyes at her. "Wasn't he supposed to turn into a titan?!"

"He couldn't.." Sakura stopped her chakra flow, it would be wasteful to continue doing so since he was someone staying alive with all that damage. She stood, turning to Face the other two. "I think with the fact that the female titan is Annie is holding him back. For now we gotta help him! Give us a hand!"

Jean just stood stupefied. "He couldn't do it...Damn it, Eren!" He walked passed next to him and her, grabbing the boys shoulder and slightly shaking them. "Quit screwing around! I told you we'd need to count on you someday!were forced to put our lives, humanity and hope in your hands and this is all you have to show for it?! Marco didn't...Marco can't have..."

She gasped when she saw a slither of dark green, he barely opened it but his eye was hazily staring at the man who had been yelling. She had been distracted staring at him she almost didn't pay attention to what happened behind them. A piece of building had went flying through the air, hitting the building behind them, causing more rubble and debris to come flying towards them. In the moment she had went by the clinical choice, turning before it all hit where they were standing she had grabbed Armin, noticing how jean had already started to flee. Holding the boy to her, she jumped and rolled slightly away, she didn't want to be too far away from whatever would be left of Eren's body.

The blonde had yelped when they stopped moving, not even noticing what had happened. She let go of him and started to run to the brunette, thankfully his top half didn't get crushed this time. Just another piece of rubble covered his lower half, one crushing his left arm and a wooden spike pierced his chest. Jumping back closer she started to flip the rubble off of him again.

"It's no use!" Jean spoke up as him and Armin has gotten to their feet. "We gotta do something about her first."

He began to run away, drawing his swords as he did so. Armin stared, scared and unsure of the current situation. She glanced over her shoulder, Eren was alive, but still unmoving.

"Armin." His blue eyes moved over to her. "You and Jean need to start plan C. The soldiers near here were moved out by my command."

He nodded and looked to the boy. "Eren, there's something I told Jean once." She watched as said boy had painfully opened his eye again, just barely. "Those who can't abandon anything, can't change anything. The ability to give up your humanity when forced to rise up above monsters. I think that's something that Annie can do. Although I don't know why she does it. But, whoever can do that will prevail!"

He got up, took one second to look at her mask, with a face of doubt, before running off towards the titan. She watched as her clone protected Mikasa from being hit, giving her chances to aim at the titans joints. She felt another clone had moved out, moving the civilians nearby away, or at least scaring them away she wasn't sure. She just felt crowds of chakra fleeing from her sliver. She watched as Jean been flying around, plotting an attack.

"You know, Eren?" She kept her eyes facing the female titan. "You've been gifted with the ability to protect your friends."

She looked down for a moment, making eye contact with his sole eye before looking away, her heart hurting. She heard Armin yell out, telling the giant woman to kill him this time or she lost a bet, gaining her full attention. Annie had turned towards the boy, while distracted Jean had tried to cut her nape. Only to be blocked by a hardened hand, pushing himself back and fleeing. Her clone had attempted to create a distraction, being extremely slow, to give the blonde boy a chance to get around the titan, at his friends scream to follow him. Annie following blindly after the announced challenge. They were going to do the plan.

She watched as they started to move away, finding her voice once again.

"It's hard to fight someone you consider a friend." Light green softened at dark green. "I'd rather save the life of two friends than risk the life of one."

She stood up slowly, she had started to see the fire come back into his eyes, praying that all will be okay. She jumped, up and onto the rooftops, easily finding the large woman and two soldiers. Racing ahead she easily caught up to where she felt the trap set up. She landed behind Hange, not making it obvious she was there on the building behind her to not disturb her giving commands. The soldier next to here didn't turn around either, both crouched by the large barrels near their feet. Her clone that was sent here had already disappeared the moment the two boys had started the chase.

She watched the Said two boys going flying by, the titan on their heels. The section commander lifted a foot on the barrel, staring gleefully as the titan went by. Almost as if in slow motion the titan turned looking at them, yet she didn't seem surprised by this trap. All the arterially around her started to go off, no one had a word for it, just the sight of the titan made them get to work. Ignoring the hooks being sent at her, Annie flung her hand around, attempting to catch Armin and Jean who were still in front of her, ignoring the lines being thrown into her from all directions. She leaned forward, as they left her reach, causing her own body to lean back from the tension, causing her to fall.

She had fallen, one hand behind her neck, covering her nape. His torso and shoulders were flat to the ground, hips turned as both her legs laid on top of another. The soldiers quickly threw down a blanket of spikes in an attempt to help further keep her down.

"All right!" Hange yelled. Some soldiers landing to the ground level, among them Armin. "Personally I thought having a plan c was over kill. But, Commander Erwin really does know his stuff. Now, then..."

Hange walked right off the edge of the building, using her gear to slow and drop her by the titans head. Sakura hopped down, slowly walking up behind the section commander.

"I suggest you be a good girl and behave yourself." Walking up to the titan, the tall brunette placed one hand on the giant eyelid as another held a blade up to the pupil, it pinpointed in response. "You can't call any titans to come and eat you this time. But don't you worry. I'll savour the information I pry out of you instead."

Sakura's eye snapped to the muscle twitch in the titan's leg. Hooking an arm around Hange's hips, she jumped up onto the roof as the female titan started to swing her leg, destroy the walls of the building and the cannons around her as she completed the arc. Letting go of the woman, she watched as other soldiers had been hit in the kick, scanning the crowd for Armin. The female Ackerman landing behind them as she did so.

"She broke free?!"

"Looks like we didn't set enough traps!" The taller woman clenched her fist as she spoke.

Not quite sure where the blonde boy was, the kunoichi got pissed. Ripping off her mask as the female titan began to stand, throwing it to the side as she turned to the brunette.

"You need to clear everyone out of the area."

"H-huh?" The older woman blinked. "Why?"

The pink haired woman looked at the titan who was beginning to run away.

"I'm going to kick her ass."

"Wait-" Hange tried to get out but the other woman in a blink was gone. Turning quick to her soldiers she yelled, "Don't let the female titan get away! After her!"

Sakura had landed on the ground a few buildings ahead of the female titan, reaching up to flick her hood down. The titan had kept its running speed, barely even giving her a glance as she came in closer. Starting to walk forward at a slow pace, she channeled her chakra to her hand, clenching it into a fist tightly. Judging the distance, she jumped into the air, putting herself at chest level to the titan, she cocked by her arm. Swinging with her fury, right into the sternum of the female titan. She could hear the loud bones shatter instantly, the skin and tissue became concave under where her hand was. To everyone else, it was as if a sudden explosion hit Annie's chest, as they had been a distance behind there were able to avoid the titans body that had suddenly been blown back at a fast speed. The body somersaulting as it went crashing back, completely destroying a building before the body just tumbled into the street behind it.

All the soldiers had frozen in spot, some landing in the street, others had a near heart attack from almost being crushed by the body when it was in the air. Sakura walked calmly through the street, many confused by the sudden vision of a pink haired girl in a tan cloak. Hange came flying down to her side, along with Armin and Jean.

"Make sure she doesn't get away!" She yelled at her soldiers again. "We need to capture that titan!" Hange's soldiers went flying to get there first.

"Sakura!" Said woman kept walking towards the direction the female titan went in, glancing over to the tall woman. "What did you do?!"

"I punched her?" She frown slightly. What? That titan can destroy buildings left and right, but she destroys one and it's a problem?

"You-" The woman's brown eyes just stayed widened as she walked along side the petite female. "I don't-how did you-magic-titan powers?!"

"Sakura," Light green eyes looked over to the blonde boy and his friend on her other side, "I think she's asking about your, um, chakra?"

Ignoring the dreamy yet terrified stare from the long faces man behind him, she formed a small 'O' with her mouth. Turning back to the other woman.

"I can enhance my strength by sending amounts of it to my limbs." From the blank stares she got, she felt like she might as well give up ever trying to explain it.

"Is it okay if I ever test you?! I want to know your full extent-"

"Hange." Sakura gave a exasperated look at the woman and sighed. "Let's finish this fight first, can we? I don't know how long she'll be-"

She stopped mid sentence, and mid step, causing those three following her to pause as well. She snapped her body to face the buildings towards Armin and Jean's side. They barely had time to turn and look up as, in the distance, a giant lightening bolt came down from the sky, striking the land somewhere away from them. The light distracting all of them, the blonde gasped out next to her.

"Might I recommend moving over to the titan before Eren gets here?" She looked over at the section commander, who nodded tightly.

They took to the rooftops, Sakura moving quicker than them as usual. Landing by where other soldiers had gathered, she peers off the side of the building that she didn't destroy. The female titan was still trying to heal, her chest was not as concave but still just as severe, her lower half angled as if she was a large demonstration of the letter L. Her blue eyes wide and fearful as she saw the kunoichi's form.

"I told you to best behave yourself." Hange spoke grimly from her side. "None of us are going to be gentle as we carve your body out now, Leonhart."

The soldiers were staying back, the titan still had mobility somewhat of both arms and her head. Not one to hold a fear forever, Sakura moved forward, making everyone yell for her to return to safety. She had flash stepped onto the titans forehead, staring down into the strangely emotional icy blue eyes. She wanted to talk to the giant woman before the shifted man could get to her.

"Annie Leonhart," she spoke low while she gave a chilling blank look, eyes half lidded, "How does it feel to be a murderer?"

The blue eyes widened. Sakura was not usually one to talk to an enemy, she didn't do the talk-no-jutsu well like Naruto, but she wanted to attempt to break this woman's heart. She had one, from the way she talked to Armin, but from the way she made it seem, this was an order from someone.

"You killed the people had trust in you. You killed the innocent people within these walls. You killed those who were just doing their job, like you." The titan flinched underneath her. "Among those innocent, how many were children? Babies? Just because they lived there? Why did they deserve to be killed?"

The titans eyes started to water, as they did she attempted to swat a hand towards Sakura, who easily jumped out of the way, landing on the titans broken chest.

"It's not your body that made you a monster." Her eyes filled became chillingly cold as she stared down the titan. "You became that the moment you started taking innocent lives. I know so many people who look like monsters or have them crawling inside them, but they would never put others in harms way."

Jumping to avoid another swing from the arm, she got tired of those around her yelling out for her to get in a safe distance. She landed back by Hange who just looked on. Glancing along the people she saw the different faces. Jean looked on horrified, Armin with sadness and regret, Mikasa with fury, Hange was blank and others were a mixture.

"Section commander." The brown eyes glanced over at her. "Eren will be here in thirty seconds." She pointed out to the form approaching in the distance.

"Eren!" The black haired woman snapped her head over.

They watched as he ran over, completely ignoring them as he screamed loudly. He saw the titan on the ground in front of him, as he was approaching she was attempting to lift her upper half up with her arms, just getting to a half seated position as they made eye contact. He knocked her down with a punch to the face, taking the chance to scream at the down titan.

"Looks like he's in control this time around." Hange spoke.

"Yes, But," the blonde boy looked over at the pink haired woman as he spoke, "he's yet to win against the female titan even once."

"He won't lose so easily-" Jean got interrupted.

"Spirit alone cant win a fight. You know that first hand." His blue eyes looked on sadly. "Surpassing Annie, will require more."

"It's a good thing I took her half out of the fight then." Sakura looked on ahead towards the two titans. "She can heal all she wants, but I'm not against helping a teammate. He has to learn to get over his pride of doing stuff alone or being the one to do it."

"Section commander!" A soldier came running up to said woman. He was out of breath but managed to talk. "We have escorted out the people in the area. No thanks to the military police."

"Good, thank you." She nodded to him, watching as he moved away.

Eren has Annie in a odd position, his knee was over her bent lower half, so she couldn't heal it easily. Currently they had their arms locked, Eren of course still screaming in her face, seemingly forcing his emotions out at her.

"I can barely even grasp how many people you might have saved." Jean spoke, causing her to look up to him with confusion. "If she was able bodied, those two would have been destroying buildings left and right. We wouldn't have been able to stop it."

"It's not over yet." She looked down at the titan brawl.

"It might be." He continued. "And all thanks to one single punch from some unknown pretty woman."

She huffed at that statement, giving him a small smile and earning a blush in return.

"Even if the city were to turn to ruins, it's not our concern." They all turned to Hange, shocked. "This is Erwin's decision."

Meanwhile on the other side of town.

"There are titan's fighting each other?!" Commander Nile yelled.

"Yes, there is also an unimaginable amount of damage done. A lot of civilians and soldiers have been killed or wounded also." His men darkly told him.

He clenched his teeth, raising his rifle to aim at Commander Erwin. The clone had stayed with her captain. He was turned facing away, with his back towards the blonde. The Sakura clone had stood next to him, blocking the rifle path as soon as the man began threatening the commander. She was upset with him over the orders, but it didn't mean she would sit in the shadows as her captain was in reaching distance of the man. Flinching as she had just appeared, standing next to and facing the same way as Erwin, but only to defend Levi if necessary. The clone still clad in both mask and cloak. They had questioned who she was when she had reported to them, they weren't pleased as she refused to speak to anyone that wasn't wearing the wings of freedom.

"Erwin!" Nile yelled out at him. "Is this the result of your doing?!"

"It is." Erwin just looked blankly at the man. "I acted entirely on my own authority. I offer no excuses."

Nile clenched his teeth, lowering his gun he walked up to Erwin, ignoring how the masked person stared him down as he did so, and grabbed the front of the blonde man's cloak.

"You had to of known what this plan of yours would've caused in the middle of a city!" The blondes eyes brows pinched. "Why?! Why did you do it?!"

"For humankind's...victory."

"Don't give me that!" The military police commander hollered, raising his rifle once again. "You're a traitor! None of the higher ups will complain if I execute you right now!"

She couldn't see the glare from Levi, but she could feel the anger behind it. She took one step towards the commander, to block him also, damned or not if she were to let him be executed on spot. He only looked at for a split second before facing the other commander.

"If you wish." The man narrowed his eyes over the rifle. "But, you'll be in charge afterwards. Do not let the female titan escape. Peer is in charge of troop deployment. Bierer is in charge of provisions. Work with them and do what ever it takes-"

"W-Wait!" The other man lowered his weapon, stuttering out to the blonde. "S-stop! Do you... really think this is for humanity's...sake?"

"I have faith it will serve as a step forward."

Nile could only stare in disbelief. Eventually giving up an internal struggle as he spoke to his soldiers. "Everyone, lower your guns! Cuff him!"

"Yes, sir." They all responded, all of them pointing their rifles back in the air.

Two of the soldiers walked forward to cuff Erwin. Both very much creeped out by the silent and masked figure just staring at them as they got closer. Trying their best to ignore and not look at the weird mask.

"Deploy all troops, and focus on aiding and evacuating the citizens!" Levi was looking on with a still hateful face.

"Yes, sir!" They all began to run and move out.

"Erwin." Nile spoke, very sober. "I'll let the court of law decide how to execute you."

"I'll gladly accept that once everything is over."

Levi started to take steps from behind her, towards the direction she was facing. He stopped when Erwin continued.

"Levi, stay put." Said man looked up with a not too happy face. "You don't like pointless death."

"Yeah." His eyes became daggers. "I'm not fond of causing it or experiencing it."

"Captain Levi." The short man looked over. "I'll take my leave now. Do you request a certain time period report?"

"Only anything of new development." He dismissed her.

The people around them gasped as she turned into a cloud of smoke, with nothing left behind. Turning away from the MPs, signaling him and Erwin wouldn't explain for now.

Her eyes twitched as she gained her clones memories. Erwin...to her it was disgusting, he showed no compassion for his soldiers or civilians, they were just tools to gain or win field. She glared at the two titans on the ground, she should of realized that when Eren was the main weapon in this mission.

Getting ready to throw a punch, Eren wound back one arm, Annie took the time to make her arm crystal as he made contact. His arm became limp and broken. He screamed once again.

"Eren!" Mikasa went to jump forward, only to pause when Hange called to her.

"Stop!" She gave the girl a stern look. "I don't think he would recognize you right now."

Annie has tried to sit up again, Eren climbed behind her, grabbing her face with his good hand and squeezed. Her eyes bulged, one popping, her nose smashed into her face making it look like a pigs, her jaw poking out at angles from being crushed. Suddenly Annie was screaming out in pain, her voice so loud and booming it was making the wind fly around them. She attempted to flip him as she clenched the arm she held onto, only for him to let her rip it off. Caught off guard he grabbed her head from the top, yanking it off in one go. The female titan falling flat and decapitated onto her stomach.

He leaned over her body, jaw opening and showing his inhuman teeth. Hange gasped next to her.

"Oh, no!" Her brown eyes widened. "He's going to eat the person inside!"

"Stop, Eren!" Jean yelled out.

"Eren!" Mikasa hollered beside them.

Sakura watched with disgust as his teeth sunk into the skin, ripping the chunk back and off the body. The short blonde female finally being shown to everyone, once again. Then it was as if he was put in a trance, he stopped moving completely, his eyes not leaving her body.

"Huh?" The tall woman spoke again. "What's he doing?"

Sakura flinched as she felt the grey haze over the titans body turn into black cloud. Suddenly a bright blue light emitted from the female titan, almost blinding, as steam and wind were forced outwards of the titans in all directions.

"What the-" Armin tried to grasp our as he fought to stand up straight. Seeing him struggle, she stepped next to him and held an arm to his back, keeping him in place. Then he whispered. "They're...merging..."

Her green eyes widened as she saw the skin of Eren's amputated arms melting and joining skin the with back of the female titan. He was yanking back, trying to escape and flee from the mess of horrors below him, screaming as if it'd help. She watched as the crystal started to grow over Annie. Holding onto Armin, she didn't stop the black haired female from dropping down to race to Eren's side. She had felt Levi closing in, knowing he would do the best in the situation. Watching as he spun in, cutting the brunettes nape, letting his true body appear.

"Don't go eating our evidence, you idiot." His voice held no anger towards the boy.

The wind died down within seconds. Armin making a run for his best friend as soon as she let her hand go of him. Her joining him to stand by her captain. The two friends pulled him out, holding him off to the side as they all stared in silence at the crystallized woman in front of them. Sakura glanced over, seeing Mikasa hold the boy up to her front. The pink haired woman couldn't help but feel slight displeasure as the obsession the girl had for him, she just needed to relax a bit, but she was a really good friend to him. Shrugging she looked back over to the crystal. Jean kept destroying his blade slowly and parts of it came flying around him with each swipe at the girl. He gritted his teeth as he continued. She watched with concerned features, she wouldn't be able to explain how the black chakra is still there, as if it's the crystal.

"Damn it!" Jean screamed. "What the hell? After all this, we get the silent treatment?! Annie! Get the hell out! Get out here and pay for what you've done! Come on! Don't be a coward! Annie! Annie!"

Levi had started to walk towards him, looking sad at the man, she followed him towards Jean. They had just gotten behind him as he begun to lift his sword again.

"Stop." Levi grabbed at his shoulder and commanded. "It's pointless."

"Jean." Her pleading eyes met tired ones. "Can I see that sword for a moment?"

He nodded slowly about to hand it over until his eyes went wide. "W-Wait!" He started throwing his arms up. "Y-you might kill us if you hit."

She rolled her eyes at the boy, ignoring her captain's raised eyebrow. "That's not what I was going to try."

She saw Hange walking up, who didn't say anything, obviously curious as to what the shinobi will do. Finally getting the sword, Sakura held it in front of her, barely needing to concentrate with her control. To her, the crystal woman was covered in a perfectly shaped pure black chakra crystal, if she only was looking at it in her senses. Lifting the broken blade up to chest height, she channeled chakra into it. The blue chakra extended out, creating a full length blade, as she ignored the crowd gasping around her. Dropping her arm quick and precise, and into the crystal, frustrated as it somehow only made a small cut into it. When suddenly, her body froze, her chakra shot back into her feeling as if it burned the very inside of her.

She quickly stopped channeling it into the sword, dropping it and stepping back as she clutched at her core. She didn't hear the people calling out to her, she couldn't focus on anything but the pain stabbing at every corner of her. She barely even felt the hands grabbing at her and flinching when her knees buckled. Not being able to hide the small whimpers coming out from her lips, she squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to recollect her self, starting at what seemed to be the source. Willing with all her might, she forced her chakra to become healing chakra. As it ebbed through her body the pain slowly started to go away. Breathing heavy, feeling sweat roll down her temple, she leaned her head forward, hitting something soft.

Well that soft thing smelled a lot like tea and oil. Slowly she was starting to put things together. Like how someone had thrown an arm under cloak and around her waist, while their other arm was around her shoulders above her cloak. Or more importantly, when she was healing herself she had put a lot of healing chakra into them also, as if it just flowed in and out. Tensing, she turned her disoriented eyes to look up, catching her captain's confused face, his eyebrows pinched as always. She took a moment to just breath, not caring if she still laid against his chest.

"Now if you can do that about fifty more times," he glared at the crystal, "you might actually make it to her."

"Oh god, please no." She was starting to breathe normal but her voice came out almost at a whisper, huffing at his attempt at a joke. "That chakra is just pure evil."

"Its chakra?" She nodded weakly against him, closing her eye at the fatigue it left her in.

"-Sakura! Can you hear me?! Are okay?! What happened?! Someone make a wire net!! Let's get this thing underground!" Hange was yelling out beside her. Her face turning grave as she stared at the blonde female.

"Understood!"

Jean has stood to the side, concerned and not knowing what to do. His eyes watched as the captain lifted the petite female up, her clearly feeling tired and just dead weight from...whatever happened. Her glossy lips slightly parted, and very unusual pink hair swished back and forth as the man carried her away.

She blinked slowly, looking up to see Levi with a conflicted face. She noticed how they were approaching a large group, she turned her head to look at them slightly. Levi stoping next to a cuffed Erwin.

"Seems the plan wasn't much of a success." His voice held hidden anger.

"No, I'd say the scout regiment's in the clear, now." Erwin spoke back, emotionless. "Just barely."

"Let's hope so..." he tightened his grip on her and started walking towards some wagons.

He lifted her up, gently putting her in the back, he stayed standing as he looked out towards the rest of the group waiting around. She stared at him, feeling her normal self coming back slowly, her body more in her control. Taking her eyes away from him she looked up into the sky, blinking slowly until her eyes snapped open. She stood up, albeit wobbly and not her usual speed. Gaining her captain's attention, he had begun to ask her what was going on when she suddenly had a kunai in her hand, the blue chakra shape shifting from her not complete control at the moment.

The shape she was studying in the sky got lower, as it did, she was able to make it out better, she stopped channeling into the kunai. Levi blinked, completely confused as the delirious woman was going to fight a bird. His eyes narrowed, though, because it was getting closer and the closer it got, the bigger it did. He couldn't fathom how a large-cream colored bird cooed as she reached out a arm, and the hawk landed straight on it. Levi was startled and wide eyed as it then talked to her.

"Sakura-Chan!" The bird fluffed up, flapping its wings as it tried to steady its large body on her petite arm.

This hawk was the one that was used between her and him the most. She preferred how he spoke less formal to her, but was serious enough to do his job.

"Frosch-kun!" She spoke softly and beamed at the bird. "What's going on? Why are you here?" She suddenly was really concerned. He only ever came out during missions.

"Sasuke-sama and Baka-sama asked for us to check on you every chance we can." He spoke proudly of his master, and not so proudly of Naruto.

She took a moment to look around, lifting a hand to pet the hawk gently, as she lowered him to the wagons floor. He stepped off her arm, finally noticing the captain. Who was staring right at it like it was the source of all his problems. Feeling a challenge, the bird turned to face, claws making tick noises as they touched the wood.

"Sakura-Chan, why does this man have almost the exact face of Sasuke-sama?" It cocked its head to the side, staring him in the eye.

"Because, the people in this city have it rough, just like he did as a child. Not the same way, though." She turned back as she realized no one saw the hawk fly down, or paid attention.

"Ah!" The bird smoothed it's feathers and gave him a dignified pose. "I am Frosch. I'm one of Sasuke-Sama's hawk summons. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"This really is happening isn't it?" He glared at Sakura. "Did that magic drug me or something?"

"It's chakra and no, in fact that healing chakra probably made you feel the best you have in years." She ignored the gaze he gave her as she looked over to the crystal thoughtfully.

"Definitely like Sasuke-Sama."

"Frosch-kun?" She heard him turn towards her, without looking away from the hunk of stone, she pointed towards the crystal. "Have you ever seen chakra like that?"

"Sakura." Turning as the bird lost all of its friendliness, giving her the same clipped tone it gives to her teammate. "That's very malevolent. Even more than the Kyuubi's when he was still sealed into Naruto."

Levi looked out to the crystal, face stern and thoughtful. She looked back to the hawk, rubbing it by the beak, prepping it to send it off.

"Tell them I'm okay, and that I miss them." She smiled when he cooed in response. "Let them know what's going on, including with that crystal over there."

He nodded, and became a small smoke bomb. Disappearing and going back to report. He had probably watched the whole fight go down and will report the damage this city has, especially if Naruto's listening. That blonde will want to come and save the day. She smiled, the three of them together would easily protect this city.

Levi didn't speak, he just stood by her, every once in a while looking up to the sky or her, so neither did she. Eventually her fatigue got to her, making her slump back as her eyes slowly started to drift close. Ignoring the voices around, she felt Levi climb into the wagon next to her, not paying attention to the others. The few things on her mind racing through to the point of a migraine.

Annie and how she became cloaked in black chakra.

What was this black chakra, where did it come from? Because it wasn't there anytime Annie hardened her limbs.

Why did it have such an adverse effect on her chakra system?

When will she see her team?

Sleep had gradually came to her. When she woke up, she was in a white bed. The window open, letting in a gentle breeze, hitting a small thing of flowers on the window sill, bringing in their sweet smell. She started to sit up, the sheet falling down to her waist, showing only her chest wrap. Blinking slowly, still confused a little bit, she looked around the room. Stopping when she realized the sleeping captain on the couch across the room, sitting upright with his one leg cross over, head tilted back. Now just noticing the other woman in the room too, Hange. Who was leaning against the door, her eyes focused on the ceiling.

"Hange?" Sakura whispered, afraid to wake up the captain.

Said woman eyes snapped to her in a instant, but walked over slowly and sat down on the side of the bed.

"What happened back there, Sakura?" She spoke low herself but gave the girl a small smile.

"As soon as my chakra touched the one that's Incased in the crystal, it felt like I was burning alive." She looked at her arms to see if they were damaged. They weren't. "It was unusual."

"No, you punching a titan well over 100 meters was unusual." The woman looked out the window, defeated. "We've tried for three days and nothing has damaged the crystal like you have."

"W-Wait..." Sakura's eyes widened. "Three days?"

"Yes," she smirked, "even Eren woke up before you."

"My body was fine, though." She frowned to herself. "I did the check myself. My body was healed and I still had at least a fifth of chakra left after the incident."

"I don't know, Sakura." Hange looked away dejected. "We don't have what you have. We can't even talk to animals." Oh, Levi must have told her about Frosch.

She was looking out the window so she didn't see Sakura's mouth open slightly, as she really sensed the short man. His signature had gotten significantly larger. He might only be holding as much as a genin now, but that was not normal. Checking over her own levels, she realized she had a normal amount for her standard. She leaned forward, scrunching her eyebrows as she thought it over, swatting at annoying long hairs that fell over her shoulders.

"Well im going to check on Eren." Hange stood up. "I'll send him your regards."

"Have a good day, Section commander."

Quietly, she slipped out of the bed. Standing up, the pink draped her back, feeling it skim the lower part of it. She had someone else's shorts on, they were a dark grey color, but male type, a meant for around her height coming mid-thigh, but snug with her hips. She padded over to the window, no sound being made. Blankly staring out the window.

"You're one headache after another." His voice pulled her out of her day dream.

She smiled and turned towards him.

"You really do sound like my teammate."

"When did four eyes leave?" He looked towards the door.

"About half an hour ago." He lifted an eyebrow.

"Probably had to go shit in front of the crystal." Sakura shook her head.

Her thoughts were brought back to what happened. Thinking of the others she turned back to her captain.

"Can I see Eren?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Running away from me?"

"As much as I enjoy how you smell like your tea," she laughed when his eyes narrowed more, "I want to just check on him. Come with me, if you'd like, I'll figure a way to get there. With or without you."

"Fine." He closed his eyes and leaned back. "Don't you think you should put clothes on, for that?"

"I-" She looked down and blushed. Not bothering to cover herself at this point, he's been looking at her this whole time. "Fine, where are my clothes?"

He pointed to a drawer, which she reach in and grabbed her stuff. Beginning to put it on right there, she grabbed at the shorts she was wearing, fully expecting underwear to be on underneath, but there wasn't. Moving quick she changed into her shorts in a blink, looking over with a red face to see if he noticed, thankfully he was still leaned back, eyes shut. Sighing to herself, she finished putting the clothes on, slipping on her boots.

"Lead the way, please?" And as an after thought. "Captain?"

He grunted and walked her through the hallways, a comfortable silence between the two. They made it into Eren's room, knocking then entering. Jean was standing by the window, Armin standing in the middle of the room, Mikasa sitting next to the bed and Eren resting on it with a wrap around his head.

"Captain Levi, Sakura!" Armin ran up to her, giving her a hug. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine now, how are all of you?" She spoke back sweetly after returning his hug.

"We're all okay."

"A lot of the town is okay, too, thanks to you." Jean looked at her. When she turned her head to the side, he elaborate. "While he," he jabbed at Eren, "was out of it for a bit, you saved us enough time to evacuate the citizens. You also crippled her which saved him the issue of chasing her down, possibly destroy half the city."

"I didn't want to see her hurt anyone else." Turning towards Eren, she spoke again. "How are you feeling?"

"Normal." He shrugged. "It's odd how normal I feel...I guess she's still stuck in there?"

"Damn." The tall boy mumbled. "That big of an operation. All for nothing."

"Annie went that far to keep her information." Armin added in.

"Yeah." Jean closed his eyes. "She kinda slipped through our fingers."

"Eren let her get away." She stared perplexed at the blonde boy. "Isn't that right, Eren? If it hadn't been for the brief moment..."

"Yeah.." The brunette agreed solemnly. "It's true. I screwed up. I froze as soon as I saw her. "

She looked down, not being able to say anything, she personally felt at fault. There was still a lot she can do. Looking up behind her shoulder as the signature showed up, the man stopped and read out lot.

"Armin Arlelt. Jean Kirchstein. You're wanted for debriefing."

"Right." The blonde spoke for them.

"Guess were up first."

"See you later, Eren."

"Yeah.."

Her and Levi moved into the room more. Eren grabbed the sheets in front of him before he spoke up.

"It actually felt nice." She tilted her head, visibly confused. "Having my body come apart, somehow felt refreshing. So much so, I felt like I wanted to die."

"Eren!" Mikasa tried to snap him out of it.

"I don't want to now."

Mikasa took this as a chance to reach forward and grab his hands. Levi gave a disgusted look, Sakura covered her mouth after seeing his reaction.

"I'm glad...that you came back..."

Looking at the boy, she couldn't tell what he felt for the black haired girl. His eyes had some kind of emotion but it wasn't an obvious one of affection. He just stared at the woman, his face neutral, not talking back to her or acknowledging her statement. Finding this moment something awkward to just stare at, Sakura began to walk out of the room. Her captain following her out.

As they walked through the pathways, the sunset colored the area with a pale oranges to reds. Her light green eyes shimmering with the reflected colors. She paused, looking out to the sky and clouds, taking in the city surrounding them.

"Captain Levi?"

A grunt was her response as he stopped walking only after she spoke. Turning so they both looked at each other, standing five feet apart.

"I want to invest everything into the scouts."

The scout regiment and Eren Jaeger's recall to the capital was rescinded, and the scouts were placed in charge of supervising over Annie Leonhart deep underground. How ever, it would take much more time and lives for humanity to learn what was holding it prisoner.

————————————————————

Well !!, that's officially the season 1 end! Now just to download Hulu for the second season to be done! =)

If there's anything you'd like to see particularly happen please do tell! Right now I'm still leaving it up for grabs for which character she'll go for.

But thanks to those actually enjoying the story! I promise one day I'll actually go back and just try writing it in better detail or just better in general.


	10. Fear

It was early morning. The man was staring off into the distance, his cloak swaying off the branch he was sitting on, open as he sat with one knee up, an arm resting on it. His hood was down and he had his eyes closed. He had no reaction as a puff of smoke appeared five feet from him, on a slightly higher branch. The tan hawk held its wings close to it's body, lower its head, yellow eyes staring at the figure as it spoke.

"Sasuke-sama."

The man cracked one dark eye open, showing he was listening.

"Sakura-san is currently in the inner walls. She had low chakra when I had approached her, but there was also evidence on two of the large creatures fighting." It kept it's focus on him. "She appears to have teamed with the civilians of this country, assisting in an attack against the creatures."

The man's black hair moves gently with the wide, brushing up against his face as he opened both eyes to look ahead. "Good. We don't need to rendezvous with her, just yet. You guys will continue to check on her."

"Yes, Sasuke-sama." The hawk bowed its head. "Sakura-san wanted to let you and Naruto-san know, that she misses you both, also."

"Hn." His black eyes peered into the horizon. "Report to Naruto, he's off being a hero."

The bird flapped up into the air, disturbing the leaves only slightly. The Uchiha watched as his summon flew away, before he sighed deeply. Lowly sending curses to both his teammates as he stood up, he looked to the forest nearby him. The grey haze moving towards random directions.

The bald headed boy stared out the window. Drool slightly coming out his open mouth. Next to him, a brunette with her hair in a pony tail mimicked him.

"My village isn't far south of here, you know..." His voice drawled out.

"My hometown is close by too.." Her voice came out just as bored.

"Damn. Why can't I go visit." Seated behind them, a large blonde man and a tall black haired man played chess. Not interrupting the smaller boy as he continued. "Maybe I'll sneak out at night."

The woman only moved her eyes towards him. "They told me not to come back until I'm normal."

The boy let out a goofy smile. "They told me I was too puny to be a soldier. Was genius enough to be one, though. I was in our class' top ten. I'm gonna go make em eat their words."

"Conny, if you're serious, I'll help." The large blonde man's voice came rolling out. He didn't look away from his game.

"What?" The bald boy tipped his head back. "How come?"

"Doesn't it seem strange?" His brown eyes looked over. "We're on standby in plain clothes and we're not allowed to train or wear our uniforms." He stood up and walked over to the window. "Even more suspicious...is that everyone else is fully armed. We're inside the wall not out on the front line. Who are we fighting."

He turned back to two drooling faces just staring blankly at him.

"Well, there are bears in the area." Conny drawled out.

"Yeah. Bears." She mimicked.

"Guns are enough to handle bears." He sat back down to his game.

The woman sat up for a moment, staring half lidded into space. The blonde man only staring at her actions, not surprised at all when she let her upper body drop over the table, her head facing towards him after smacking onto it. Mouth open and eyes still half lidded until she gasped. Her eyes shot open as her head snapped up. She pushed herself up into a standing position as quick as she could.

"I hear thuds!" She spoke up. "They sound like footsteps!"

"Huh?" Everyone around the room proceeded to look up at her.

"Get serious, Sasha." The blonde lifted an eyebrow. "If you are suggesting there are titans here...that'd mean wall rose has fallen."

"It's the truth!" She threw her hands up. "I really hear footsteps!"

A woman in ODM appeared at the window. Opening it quickly while everyone just watched with a confused face.

"Everyone in here?" The short haired blonde asked with authority.

"Nanaba?" A petite woman asked.

"Multiple titans. 500 meters to the south." The woman replied back with urgency. "They're coming right this way. There's no time for you to gear up. Take your horses and evacuate all nearby homes and settlements. Understood?"

"From...the south...?" Conny whispered.

"Has the wall been breached?!" The large blonde man spoke to his partner.

"Get going!" The woman at the window yelled as she moved. "Lunch will have to wait, I'm afraid!"

All of them made a run for the stables, getting there and saddling up. There horses moving slightly as they all seemed to be going as fast as they could. Everyone rounding up, Commander Miche leading them out and down the path, before he began explaining.

"As soon as the titans reach the woods, well split into four teams of recruits and soldiers alike, and simultaneously scatter in each direction!" His voice boomed. "Avoid combat when possible, and focus of getting the word out! Is anyone familiar with this region?"

"Y-Yes!" Sasha raised used one hand to grip the reins and the other to go in the air. "My town's north of here! I know the lay of the land well! And..." She looked to the boy riding beside her. "...so does Conny! Conny?"

She stared at the boy saddened, as he was still in shock. "My village...My village is to the south...where the titans are coming from...I can take you to the nearby villages but after that, please let me visit mine."

"All right." The Commander looked him in the eyes. "You'll guide the southern team."

"Yes,sir."

"I'll come with you, Conny!" The large blonde man ran up along side of him.

"The south will be the most dangerous. It'll be crawling with titans."

"So?" He smirked. "I was going to help you sneak there, anyway. Remember? You coming, Bertholdt?"

The tall black hair man looked for a second. "Of course, I'll go."

They rode a little further ahead before the blonde second in charge spoke.

"As you know," Nanaba started, "today marks the new darkest day in humanity's history! If ever humankind needed to give it's all, that time would be now!"

"The titans have reached the woods!" A soldier yelled out.

Everyone looked out, seeing the group of titans casually walking.

"Everyone scatter!" Miche yelled out. "Ride as fast as you can!"

The group began to split up, each person urging their horse to move faster. Giving them only a brief few moments, the titans had paused in their own. Then, as if commanded, they all began to sprint as fast as they could towards the soldiers.

"What?!" The Commander couldn't understand what he was seeing. "They all started sprinting?!"

"Whoa! They're all going to catch up!" Conny yelled.

"Tch!" Miche turned his horse, racing towards the titans and yelled. "Gelgar! Take charge of the southern team!"

"Sir?!" He looked at the titans, and how they were closer to a barn in between them. "U-Understood."

"He's using himself as bait?!" A female soldier spoke up.

"He won't survive! I'll help!" Another soldier yelled out.

"No!" Gelgar turned to them. "We can't spare anyone else! Have faith in him! His skill is second only to Captain Levi! He'll make it back alive!"

Said man was beginning to take out the titans, jumping off of his horse and using his gear to fly in between the trees, by the ground level. Using it as an advantage to duck and move away from grappling hands as he would fling himself in the air, cutting at their napes.

It was nine against one.

Sakura had been wondering the halls, no longer mindful of her attire. They had given her that room to rest in, so she had left her cloak, mask and supplies in there, under a protection jutsu of course. Mikasa has gradually warmed up to her, having thoroughly enjoyed the punch Annie received. Armin and Eren had already warmed up to her, but were mindful to not try and make her angry, well at least the blonde saw sense in not wanting to die, the brunette was a no filter type. Erwin had only spoken to her once, telling her to be mindful of the MP's who were suspicious and sent out to watch her. Let them try with her, she could easily sense all those around.

Her long hair gently swayed behind her, the unusual pink did catch a lot of attention, also made her easy to point out. Not that her outfit didn't do that for her also. It seemed women only showed skin when working out around here, so her arms and legs showing caught people off guard. She paused, feeling a frantic person running through the halls, heading towards Eren's room. She blinked, curious as to what made the blonde boy panic, so she moved to intercept him just at the room.

"Armin?" The boy jumped as she popped up from behind him, he was out of breath and just shook his head. Opening up the door really quick he busted in quickly. Both his friends in the room, the woman sitting and the other boy standing.

"Eren! Mikasa!" He breathed hard. "This is really bad! The titans! They're inside wall Rose!"

"W-What?!" The brunette could barely form the word, the black haired female just sat wide eyed.

"There's no time! We gotta round everyone up and get ready! We're moving out tonight!" He ran right back out the door, leaving Sakura standing there awkwardly.

Deciding to just teleport back to her room, she disappeared from the two's sight. Grabbing her thigh pouch and putting it back on, she put her cloak over her arm, not putting it on, just holding it. Thinking it over, she agreed going to see her command would be best but she took her time, the frantic atmosphere not affecting her.

She made it to the commander's office. The blonde man staring out of the window. She had caught on a while ago that people can't just sense her approach like others do, so she gently knocked on the door. He made nothing that showed he acknowledged her.

"Commander Erwin?" She grasped it was a bad situation, but not an unfixable one.

"Sakura." He held no emotion. "What do you know about these walls?"

"That they are used to protect to the people while keeping titans out, sir?"

"Ah, that's right, you weren't there." He kept his eyes out the window. "A part of the wall cracked from debris hitting it during the fight. That crack partially showed a titan face."

"Huh..?" Her eyes pinched and she put one hand to her chin and the other to her waist, thinking before speaking out loud. "But I don't feel their signature surrounding the city or walls."

"You can sense them?" He looked over his shoulder, eyebrows low.

"Yes, sir." Her light green eyes were half lidded as she spoke in a calm tone. "It's like an aura, each individual has a recognizable one, the titans are different. Imagine a grey cloud in the shape of their body, and that's what I can sense from them."

"I see." He looked back out the window. "You'll understand that we have to use you, for our goal to survive."

"Yes." Putting her arm back to her side, she walked over to the couch, putting her cloak onto it. "I'll do what I can, to protect everyone."

"The military police wanted me to hand you over, for experiments." She blinked, well that should have been expected.

"They'll have a fully drugged and unconscious regiment if they try." She huffed, looking towards the door when she felt her captain making his way through the halls.

"I told them I personally wouldn't, but if they wanted they could try to get you themselves." He turned and looked at her, not surprised to see a single pink eyebrow raised in challenge. "They decided against it after reading into the reports of your attack, on the female titan that is."

She smirked. "Preservation will do them good."

Tilting her head, she let her light green eyes stare lazily at the door. In a few moments, the short man had opened in and started to walk in.

"Ugh. Those damn titans never give us a break." He spoke with a disgusted tone. Closing the door behind him.

Erwin turned to fully face the man, looking him over in his uniform.

"Can you go?"

Sakura looked over at the short man concerned, was he injured again?

"Not like there's much choice." Then he looked pointedly at her. "I feel like a million bucks."

Was the extra chakra inside of him causing pain? What's going on? Unless...he never told Erwin that she healed him. Was that an attempt to try and protect her from being used?

"Sir," she gained the blonde man's attention, "I'll assist him in this operation. I won't hold back in a open terrain setting."

He paused before nodding at her.

"Sir, It was wise to have section commander Miche watch over the 104th." A man began to walk into the room with a clipboard. "I believe he can handle to situation."

"Yes." Erwin eventually answered the man. "Let's hope so."

The look Levi was giving the Commander was confusing her. It was almost one of regret and conflict all together. She could only look, eyes soft for him, as she wondered what it was going through his mind.

He was running up a titans arm, getting closer to the kill spot. Swiping at the nape and hitting his mark, using the his gear to send himself onto the top of the barn. Breathing heavy, the blonde man took the chance to even the breaths out. Turning to his side to look at the titan, one who was half hiding behind the barn's far side, almost like a stalker.

"Four left." The man whispered to himself.

Looking to each of the four he spoke of. A small one with bulging eyes half hazardly wandering around the side of the barn not walking far from it. He began to put his swords away, standing up straight as he did so. He lifted his now free hand to his mouth, letting out a high whistle as he did so. The sound echoing in the air. Taking the time as he waited he looked to the largest of the titans. A giant one, well over 17 meters and was hairy, almost as if it was an ape. It was walking a long, long arms swinging as it did so.

The man perked up as he noticed his horse running closer. It was coming from the same area the large titan was walking in. It had just gotten by said titan, when a large hand snatched it up into the air. The blonde man gasped, visibly confused by the action, watching as the titan held it. The horse was making squealing and panicked noises.

"It went for the horse?!" Miche started to yell out as he redrew his blades. "You can't be serious?!"

He voice gained a stare from the titan. The horse giving a small cry of death as it was squeezed. Suddenly the titan reached his arm back, getting into a throwing stance, launching the horse at him without giving him much time to react. The horses body smacked into the top of the roof, the shingles flying up and smacking into the blonde man who had just barely managed to move to the side. Losing his balance from the force, he couldn't stop himself as he rolled off the top of the barn. The small titan jumping to grab him.

It had both of its hands gripped around his abdomen, mouth opening wide as it used its speed to bite down on his lower leg. Blood trickling out of its mouth as the commander screamed in pain and agony. It continued to munch on his leg, slowly grinding its teeth, only causing him to continue screaming.

The titan paused as a shadow covered the two of them. Looking up with complete fear in his eyes, he saw the large furry titan and it crouched by them, wind blowing from the pressure of the body dropping down. It only stared for a moment, the man could only look with wide eyes as drool came flowing out of his mouth. The large titan almost had a cruel large smile on its face.

Miche was brought out from the staring contest as the titan holding on to him began to move again, it's mouth opening, pushing him now thigh deep before chomping again. The blonde was screaming again as he attempted to push and pull against the titan, fighting to get away. Complete and utter fear making him pause as a dark and booming voice was emitted from above him.

"Huh? Didn't I just say to wait?" The large titan looked displeased.

Reaching towards them it grabbed the small titans head, squeezing it, causing it to explode, eyeball and chunks flying. The sudden lack of head caused it to drop the blonde man, who landed harshly on the grass, his left leg bleeding and mangled. He struggled to sit up slightly, grunting in pain, not even attempting to hide any noises his body made. Finally sitting up, his eyes wide, his breath heavy and teeth clenched as he stared at the beast.

It unclenched and clenched it's hand, watching the steam disappear. Looking back down at him, it smiled again.

"Tell me, what is this weapon called?" He could only gasp and stare in fear as it spoke. "That thing on your waist that flies around."

Miche could barely even breathe, his eyes looking as if they would fall out of his head. The titan scratched at its head as it hummed.

"I'm certain we speak the same language. Perhaps your simply too frightened." It looked at the gear. "Oh, I see you use swords, too. I guess that means you know we reside in the nape. Ah, well, I'll just take it back with me."

The giants hand started to reach for him, Miche's fear only heightened, not being able to let out the scream and panicked noises as he curled into himself on the ground, as if it would protect him. His eyes snapping open when all he felt was the ODM being taken off. His wide eyes stared as the beast got up to its feet. He paused in his fetal position, breathing pausing in its panic, as his eyes became determined. He reached for his sword, and bringing it up in a offensive position.

He was giving a war cry, only to cut it off himself as he watched the giant stop in its tracks. It turned slowly and spoke once again, causing his fear to come back in full.

"You can move now."

The other titans suddenly began to rush towards him. The commander couldn't help but whimper, cry and scream.

"No!" He attempted to crawl to get away. "No!"

His screams continued as something grabbed his arm that was behind him. His eyes were clamped shut, not able to do anything but plead for it all to stop. Though his paused in his screams after a few moments, for nothing was ripping him apart or biting him. His eyes were still bulging and filled with tears as they opened to see the small titan dead in front of him. Turning around to see what was holding onto him he became even more confused.

It was a blonde man, he wore a cloak and the arm that was holding onto his was clad in orange, and his black pants barely visible. His face was set in anger, ocean blue eyes glaring in pure fury up at the large titan. Miche could only hiccup as he realized the two titans behind the man were dead too.

"You've made a bad enemy." The Commander flinched, briefly thinking for a moment it was spoken to him, only to realize the other man's gaze was still on the titan.

"Oh?" It turned slowly to look at him. "And you are?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." His voice was deep and not hiding its anger. "You better remember it."

The next thing the commander knew was his stomach feeling like it was twisted, snapping his eyes shut as he felt more nauseous than ever in his life. There was an arm hooked around his middle, but he barely noticed that or the change in scenery around them, throwing up everything he could from his stomach. The arm moved to patting him on the back gently.

"Ah!" The blondes voice was suddenly lighter to his ears. "Oh, man, are you okay?! Oh god. What do I do?!"

Miche finally looked up, his chest heaving with everything that had happened, his tears now stuck in his eyes instead of falling out. His first realization was that they were no where near the barn or large titan, in fact it wasn't anywhere in sight. Second was the blonde man who was panicking, his cloak now oddly familiar and talking to him completely different from his first impression of him. Third, he clenched his teeth as pain came in over his shock, was his leg that was limp, bleeding, bone sticking out, angled awkwardly and excruciating.

"Oi!" He looked up to the worried blue eyes. "Can you understand me? Are you okay?!"

He nodded slowly. Grasping his upper thigh as another round of pain shot through him. He felt movement on his leg as the man pulled out a string of fabric, giving him apologetic eyes before squeezing it tight and tying it.

"W-Who are you?" He whispered through his clenched teeth.

"Naruto, future hokage!" He pointed at himself with a large smile. "You?"

"Miche Zacharious..." He started to shake, tears welling up slightly. "W-What..happened..."

"Don't think about it right now." He sighed, lifting his hand behind his head, showing the odd outfit underneath. "You were the only one there right?"

"Yeah..."

"Good." His eyes apologetic again. "I'm sorry I didn't get to you...earlier. But, it's okay! I'll find Sakura-Chan and she can fix that!"

"S-Sakura?!" Miche's eyes widened. He suddenly fought through the shock and put it together. "Y-you're one of her teammates!"

"That's right! We're the strongest team!" He smiled brightly.

The boy moved so fast that the commander didn't even know what happened before a puff of smoke appeared in front of him. A scroll landed on the ground, the blonde sitting Indian style across from him. He jumped back when he saw the man bite his thumb, instant fear rolling across him, only for nothing to happen except for the appendage to touch the paper, smudging it and within a second a puff of smoke popped in front of them. It was...two steaming bowls of noodles?

Miche just sat wide eyed, utterly confused. Did he die, what kind of heaven is this? The other blonde shoved on in his direction.

"Here, eat it." He spoke as he slurped his own. "After the report, we'll move out and try to find another group."

He couldn't help that he just stared for a solid five minutes. The other man patiently waiting.

"Report?" The commander gave up, smelling this unusually appetizing food, he began to peck at it.

"Mhmm." A slightly tan finger pointed straight up, making him look.

It was a bird, it flew in one circle before dive bombing down. The man flinched, some of the broth spilling over his bowl slightly. Watching with extreme confusion as the large tan hawk landed on the ground next to the man, its wings flapping as it control its balance.

"Yo, Frosch!" He smiled brightly at the bird.

Who in turn, moved it's head to examine the injured man completely. Tilting as it studied every part of his leg.

"Baka-sama." He turned its yellow eyes at to the younger blonde. "Good news. Sakura-Chan is perfectly safe and fine! She's assisting his people in this epidemic."

"That's great!" He beamed at the mention of his teammate. "Bad news?"

"Sasuke-sama believes you both are trying to play heroes but will cooperate too."

"Ah, man, he couldn't wait till we just found each other?" The man let out a large sigh.

"I-I'm sorry to interrupt." Miche spoke lowly. "But...is he not an ally or something?"

"Pfft." Naruto have a goofy grin. "See, Duck ass is just not a people person. He might give your people the wrong impression of us if they meet him first."

"Naruto-San." A blue eye peered down, eyebrow raised at the formality. "Shall I inform Sakura-San of...this injured man?"

He nodded at the bird. "Yes. Tell her his name is Miche, I have a feeling they know each other."

The bird, after nodding, flapped it's large wings and took back into the air, flying fast and into the distance.

"Oi." The blonde scratched the back of his head shyly. "You wouldn't happen to know which direction is to the groups, do you?"

Miche could only wonder, what hell, he was just kept in.


	11. Home

She easily did the manual labor of five soldiers at once. Moving the crates, some one handed and she assisted with setting up with the wagons. She was told to stick to Eren and Mikasa's side for the time being, so she was obeying. They were in the Stohess district, currently the area was lit by torches to help them see in the dark.

"Damn it!" Eren cursed at a wagon beside her. "What the hell does this all mean?!"

He shoved a crate down, and sighed, sitting next to his female friend. The pink haired woman paused as she turned towards the approaching blonde.

"But..would a titan break a wall with titans in them?" Armin asked.

"They've done it before." The brunette spoke with attitude. "They busted the wall into our city."

"That was a gate."

"Armin, what are you saying?" The black haired woman spoke up.

"The thing about the walls...there's no crevices between the rocks or any signs of cracking." He forwarded his brows. "We can't really tell how they're made. So what if they're made from hardened titan skin? It must be pretty versatile if Annie can encase herself."

"Titans...in the wall..." The brunette whispered.

Hopping up into the wagon, she gained all their attention. She turned around, reaching a hand down for the blonde, once he grabbed it she easily lifted him up and in, ignoring his slight yelp. Sitting across from the three of them, she looked at everyone jumping onto their horses.

"Eren. Wear it correct, it's cold at night." The black haired woman babies him, pulling his scout cape around his shoulders.

Sakura was staring at the crowd around her, before turning towards the back of the wagon, looking at the approaching group.

"Sorry to keep ya!" Hange spoke first, waving her hand as she smiled. "Took longer to prepare than we thought."

Sakura was curious as to why Levi was clutching the inside of his jacket with one hand. He was holding onto something but she couldn't tell what. Only briefly looking at the priest before they climbed in. Her captain held no qualms for squishing her into the back, ignoring her light glare. The priest was next to him, with Hange squeezing in by the front.

"Um.." The blonde across from them spoke uneasily. "Isn't this a priest from the order of the walls?"

"Yeah!" The tall woman slung an arm around the man's shoulders. "Nick and I are best buddies. Right? Don't let him bother you. The whole make up of this squad doesn't make any sense. Does it, Levi?"

The woman was completely ignoring the look of pure doom on the middle man's face, to lean forward to see the short one.

"No, I think it might." Her captain spoke up beside her, staring at the trio. "Erwin picked them out for a reason."

"Open the gate!" A man yelled drawing their attention.

To her the gate was eerie, lit up barely by the orange glow of torches those on horses were carrying. Erwin started to circle his white stallion at the front.

"The situation within wall rose is unclear!" He faced his soldiers. "But everything up until Ehrmich is safe. Well save time going through there. Move out!"

He led them through the gates, the stomping of hooves loud like thunder.

"Take us out." Levi spoke evenly to the wagon driver.

"Yes, sir!"

They were all following in a line down the path, mostly in pairs, some spread out. She flipped her hood up, attempting to prevent her hair from smacking the others in the face as they road along. Using the coverage to pump small amount of chakra into her eyes to give her better vision in the night. The glow from them barely visible.

"This whole time, titans have been protecting us from titans." Armin spoke up again.

"And yet some people did know." The tall brunette didn't add in nicely.

"H-huh?" Eren leaned back, blinking.

"My good friend knew this whole time." Her eyes casted over with displeasure.

"Huh?! He knew?!" Eren's voice cracked. "There's titan inside the walls and he knew about it?!"

"Yes, though..." Hange stared at the spoken of. "...he's kept his mouth shut this entire time. But now he's coming with us to witness the harsh reality. Will his beliefs be strong enough for him to stay silent? Or will seeing it with his own eyes make him question himself?"

"No,no,no,no!" Eren stood up, getting into the man's face who only blinked. "This is all backwards! If there's anything you know, tell us about it! Nothing more important than keeping humans from going instinct!"

He clenched at his eye, slightly in pain and calmed back down into his seat.

"Eren, settle down." Mikasa put a hand to his back. "You're still not fully healed."

The metal clink and his arm movement made her flinch beside him. Her green eyes peered from by his shoulder to try and see what was happening.

"There's more than one way to get answers." He glared at the man. "It doesn't take much to watch one man. I'm hoping we can settle this without blasting a hole in anyone. Aren't you?"

"Threatening him doesn't work, Levi." Hange peeped from the other side. "Believe me, I've tried. It seems to me that this priest is capable of sound judgement. That's why I wonder... what if the reason he doesn't talk is because he knows something more important than the fate of humanity?"

They all were silent as they went back to just staring at each other, though she kept staring to where the gun was next to her.

"That explains the smell of oil with the tea." She whispered, not realizing he had heard her.

"See that?!" Sasha spoke up. "That's the village!"

"Is that the last one?" The man riding by her asked.

"No!" Her brown eyes looked straight ahead. "My village is deeper in the forest! I'll go there alone!"

"All right!" He started to turn his horse. "Leave this village to me!"

"Got it!"

Her horse kept running forward, the brown hair swishing around her. The deeper she went into the forest the darker it got. Her eyes widened, on the path she was galloping down, were large foot prints, obviously from a smaller titan.

"They've already come this far?!" She kept urging her mare through the path.

Getting out into the clear she had to squint to adjust her eyes to the sudden change in light. Her eyes opening largely as she stared in shock.

"What's this? A new village?" She spoke low as she kept pushing down the path to get closer to said area.

Going forward there was a draw bridge that was half open, the horse easily going up it and jumping to the other side. She was moving from building to building, seeing no signs of life. Eventually she came to a house, the door was wide open and she saw the giant naked form through the doorway. Bitching her horse to a tree across the yard, she grabbed for the ax that was in a stump. Creeping forward, looking around to see if there was any other titans.

Getting closer she saw the titan had a woman's leg in its arm, slowly and loudly chewing the small bits of flesh, before she realized the older woman was still alive on the floor. Gasping from pain and shock, as the blood made a pool around her. She stood in shock for a moment, before letting out a holler as she swung at its nape with all her might. Attempting again and again, only for the skin to heal slightly. Blood flew as she did so, but the squelching noise from it chewing never stopped. Screaming when with one swing the ax flew up and backwards into the ceiling rafter, where it stayed.

She put her hands down and went to take a step away from the titan, only to gasp when she saw the small form sitting on the floor, staring at her with dead eyes.

"A child?!"

She flinched and looked back at the titan with small amounts of steam coming from its neck. It was still sitting on the floor holding the woman as it chewed on the flesh in its mouth. Slowly Sasha made her way over to the child, looking back and catching the woman's eyes only to look away.

"I'm..so sorry.."

She grabbed the little girl's arm, pulling her up into a standing position before running while pulling her along. They made it outside before the titan finally stopped chewing and looked out the door.

"What's your name?" The brunette asked the child. Making it to the horse as she began to untie it. "Don't worry, it'll be okay."

"What will?" The small voice spoke lightly.

"Huh? What? I mean...um..." In her flurry of trying to calm the child and not paying attention, she dropped the reins to the now untied horse. It taking the chance to run away. "Um...you see...huh?!"

Her eyes filled with tears as she let out a scream.

"You're kidding me?! Hey?! Please wait for us!" She started to blow her fingers in her mouth, whistling to the animal that continued to flee. Turning to the little girl an using a less panicky voice. "There's no need to worry! Please stay calm! It'll come right back!"

"Why are you so nice when you talk?" The little girl's emotionless voice came to her ears.

"What?" Her tears still in her eyes.

She flinched as she saw the titan crouching to come out the door way, standing it's full height as it emerged, tilting its head menacingly. Looking every direction, she noticed a bow and arrows laying nearby, she grabbed them prepping to use it.

"Run away from here! It'll be okay!" She ran with the child, pulling her behind her once again as she ran towards the draw bridge, the titan walking behind them.

"Why? Everyone already left." Sasha looked down, eyes wide at the child. "The whole village knew my mother's legs were bad. But not a single person came to help. All I could do was watch."

Making it to the bridge, she threw the weapon over first, then picking up the kid, she lifted her up, giving her the lift she needed as she slowly climbed over. The titan made it to the beginning of the bridge, the wood breaking slightly under its feet, making it stuck for a small moment before it got out. The girl had gotten over, not taking another second, the scout pulled herself up and over, avoiding the titan by just a few feet. They ran down the path, the brunette bow and child in hand.

"It'll be okay!" She looked back to see the titan slowly but surely crawling over the bridge. "It's okay."

They made it down a decent amount of the path, the only problem was titan that was still on their heels.

"Hey, listen up." She spoke to the child. "You'll be fine. Keep following this path. Run as far as you can. I promise someone will be there to help you. You might not find them right away...but still, keep running until you do! Now, go! Run!"

She twirled, letting go of the girl as she did. Bringing the bow up and making it taught. The little girl after watching for a second began to run again, down the path they were heading. Sasha stood in place as she aimed at the titan. Letting one arrow go, she started to run again as it only landed in its neck. She climbed up a ledge, now face level with the titan, and pulled back another arrow. This one just skimming the ear of the titan, not doing anything. It got closer and she only had two left. Pulling back another one, she took more time to aim. Hitting it directly in its left eye.

The titan paused, before almost frowning at her. It continued to move forward and she felt a little bit of fear go down her spine as she held the last arrow in her hand. Her eyes setting in determination as she was about to jumped forward with it to stab its eye. Only to pause when steam poured out from its neck, and it fell forward.

"H-huh..?" She stared for a moment before looking around.

Screaming as she noticed a tall person standing a few feet away from her, wearing a tan cloak and a mask that looked like an animal. He had a sword heldout at his side, the steam rising up from it. Putting two and two together, she looked at him with wide eyes.

"I-um-w-Who are you?" Then she jumped up, as if only now remembering the girl. "Ah! Oh no! Please come with me! And thank you!!"

He just stood, watching her go. His kusanagi cleaned as the blood evaporated into steam.

And with that she was running off, not exactly looking back at him to check if he was going to run with her. She got far ahead when the sound of hooves stopped her, she looked up to the ledge above seeing a whole group on horses.

"Huh? Sasha?" A man in a cowboy hat spoke to her.

"D-dad...?"

She crawled up the ledge, meeting them up there. She stood as her father yelled for someone to get her a horse. A man bringing one up eventually. She noticed the small girl was fine, and in another man's lap, as they rode down a path.

"We been giving horses to everyone in the area." His cowboy hat staying in place as he rode. "The girl told us someone was still back there. Who'da thunk it was you? You fought off a titan for that girl didn't you? Sasha...yer all I hoped for." He smiled softly at the young woman.

She looked down softly as the continued to ride, a small smile on her face.

"I'm home."

The group continued down the path, all the horses sticking close together as they rode along.

They were all unaware of the extra person following after them.

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Hey guys! Small chapters I know! I promise I'll work the trio into getting more involved and changing whats going on, slowly bit by bit! =) thank you for the reviews!


	12. Fur

"Hey four eyes."

Her captain's voice brought her out from her daze of watching into the darkness around them. Her dimly light green eyes peered over at him.

"Are your hobbies so boring that playing with rocks is somehow fun for you?"

"Yeah." The woman pulled the rock away from her face, slightly turning her head towards the man. "That's right. But this is no ordinary rock. It's hardened fragment of skin left behind by the female titan."

"Huh?!" The small blonde boy leaned forward. "It didn't dissappear?"

"Right! Annie reverted back from a titan yet it's still intact even though it broke off her body! It didn't evaporate, it didn't disappear." Her eyebrows scrunched together. "So I thought, 'what if?'. When I compared it to a piece of the wall, it's pattern and composition were practically identical. In other words the wall is a barricade of humongous titans. And if I'm right, the surface is constructed with hardened titan skin."

"That's exactly what Armin was saying..." Mikasa spoke lowly from the side.

"Th-then-" A feminine hand slapped the front of Armin's face, hushing it with excitement fleeting in brown eyes. Light green eyes just sat back with a glare.

"Let me finish, Armin!" She smirked at the young boy. "As it stands, we'll be hard pressed to fill the hole in wall rose. That is, unless we find the perfect boulder to plug it. But if...but if Eren in his transformed state, could use the titan hardening ability to seal the hole in the wall..."

"Use me..." Said boy sounded unsure, causing all six people around him to stare. "...to seal the wall?"

"It should be made of the same material." Hange looked him in the eye, showing no remorse for mentioning the plan. And seeing how the hardened section won't evaporate after you've reverted back to a titan...it's possible..."

"I think it's well worth the risk." The blonde spoke up again. "And assuming it really does work then there's a possibility or it's feasible to reclaimwall Maria. Up until now, we've had to transport a large quantity of materials and supplies. That's why the need for outposts past the wall limited our progress. But if we don't have to accommodate supply wagons... we could quickly make our way to shiganshina. What if we carried out the plan at night?"

"At night?"

"Yes." He nodded. "During the night when titans can't move."

"I see." Hange held a hand to her chin, as she thought. "If the group was small enough you could sneak all the way to wall Maria. The current situation is as bad as it gets...but..we still have a glimmer of hope."

"Yes, but remember..." The blonde looked shyly to his friend. "...it all depends on If Eren can seal the hole or not."

Said boy just looked shocked.

"I realize asking this hardly seems fair, but, think you can do it?" The tall woman smiled at him.

Everyone was just staring at him, waiting for his response. Just as he was about to speak he was cut off by the captain.

"It doesn't matter what you think." His usual pissed off face was on. "You have to. There's no other choice. We're out of options. Our forces are struggling so desperately, there's nothing else they can do. You have to succeed."

"I will!" His dark green eyes shimmered with determination. "I'll do whatever it takes to seal the wall! Whatever it takes..."

He looked down, thinking for a moment before pulling out his key. "The basement. My dads basement. If what my dad said was true, well find all the answers to everything down there."

Looking up at the wall, the section commander spoke up.

"It's Ehrmich District." Her eyes then noticed something flying towards them in the sky, a bird coming towards them.

She jumped back, along with the priest and trio sitting across from them. The pink haired woman had calmly watched the whole thing happen, feeling it approaching from a distance. The large tan bird flapping its wings as it landed on Levi's leg, the man himself looking completely calm with it, only slightly miffed.

"Huh?!" Eren went wide eyed, drilling as the bird turned towards them, looking each person over.

"What-" Armins blue eyes couldn't grasp it.

"Any reason why I'm the perch?" The short man glared at the giant bird on his lap.

"Levi-San!" Everyone's jaw dropped as the bird spoke in a whinny voice. "You just remind me so much of Sasuke-sama!"

"Sasuke?" Armin and Eren both perked up at the name. Having heard that name fall out of Sakuras lips before.

"Frosch-kun? What's going on?" Her soft voice caught the summons attention.

"Oh!" It flapped it's wings, annoying the captain as its claws jostled his thighs. "Bad news! Baka-Sama found a man, Miche, he's injured real bad."

"Miche?!" Hange yelled as Levi only watched with slightly wide eyes.

"He was in charge of a platoon out there." The captain spoke darkly.

"Yes. A blonde man by the name Miche." It's voice had turned serious. "Naruto-San wishes to meet half way, there is more information to pass over from them but he wishes for it to be after saving the man."

"Where would be the closest half way point?"

"There was a castle tower not far from here. If Naruto-San followed the direction I went in that would be a good half way point."

"Thank you, Frosch-Kun." The pink haired woman looked over to her captain, ignoring the spouting ridicules the priest had started to make. "I'm going to leave a clone with you, and one of my summons to communicate with. I'm going to go help him."

"Do your best." She nodded, and made her hand signs. "You better not let him die."

The small puff of smoke caught their attention, as now another animal was on him, this one clinging to his arm. A small fluff of white, with black beady eyes, tiny leather wings and twitching ears. It chirped for a second before turning its head too look at the kunoichi.

"Sakura-Chan." She smiled lightly at the bat, then fixed her face to show it was a serious moment.

"Haya-San, this is Levi, he's my captain and I'll need to report to him." The small creature nodded, climbing up higher with much displeasure to said man.

"It's nice to meet you Levi-San." Her black eyes wandering over and creasing when she saw the brunette. "Ah, and Eren-san!"

Said boy tensed at his name being said, still not used to animals talking. Mikasa and Armin looking at him with confusion on how he knows the bat.

"What a disgrace to the land within the walls, such creatures-"

"It's j-just a b-bat-" Armin was mumbling.

"A creature willing to destroy the precious wall, our saviors, our ladies-" the priest was attempting to sway them, while being scared to death of the summons.

"Shut up, Nick." Hange just stared at the short man. "This makes things a little more of a problem. We don't know about the rest of the scouts of there."

"Let's assume they aren't all dead, if he's down."

"Let's hope." She agreed, her face troubled. "Maybe he made himself bait for all we know, and everyone's alive."

"Don't have too much hope."

Another smoke cloud caught their attention as another Sakura, fully masked, moved away quicker than they could realize.

Most of them were starting to get used to how her abilities work, only being shocked at this point by anything new.

"What happened to Miche?" The man looked at the bird on his lap.

"His legs completely crushed up to the thigh." The hawk gave its complete attention to him. "Naruto-san isn't a medic like Sakura-san, he tied off circulation for now, but he might not survive if she doesn't get there, in time."

Levi could only nod grimly, before looking at blankly at creature. The priest was stuck praying to himself, salvation for people making deals with devils, two in front of him staring distrustfully and Hange looking ecstatic on her side.

Eventually the bird flapped it's wings, not speaking as it flew off.

The wagon was silent after that, moving through the gates not mentioning what happened.hoping out of the wagon, they had to go by foot to get to the staging area. They were coming through the tunnel they had entered , the pastor standing in front of everyone. He blocked the end of the passage way as he say the crowd of people walking through the streets.

"Hey." The captain kicked the man in the back. "Keep moving. You'll end up like a lost little kid."

"Th-this is.." The mans voice was shaking.

"What did you expect you'd see?" His eyes dark as he looked over the ocean of people. "This is what happens when the wall falls."

Light green eyes looked on in sadness, having seen this a couple times in her life. Too many people to count, as they all had somber and distraught faces, moving along through the street holding onto each other and their belongings. People in rags, people half dressed. Children crying as they were separated from family from being lost in the crowd.

The priest began to gasp as he listed to one child call to both her mother and father. He went to move forward, thinking that he'd be of help as a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Hey." Levi spoke darkly. "Where do you think you're going? Take a good look at the faces of people who had lost everything. The faces of everyone you and your people have abandoned. If your church's wish comes true, and titans come flooding into the walls, we'll all be gobbled up into their stinking mouths and die in the most miserable ways possible. All of humanity, digested as one."

The man said nothing, his just still set in pure horror and wide eyed. The short man let him soak in the view, waiting for any kind of response. The clone just looked at him, it was Sakura and it possessed her feelings, she couldn't help the heartbreak she was feeling. Something the real Sakura would feel once she was popped. Levi had seemed to have enough on waiting, and pushed the man towards where the rest of the scouts and joined together, getting ready with their supplies and stocks.

They moved into the open area where they were staging, Hange was the first to notice the trio walk in.

"Section commander, we should move." A man spoke.

"Give me a minute, Moblit."

She ran over, with a clipboard in hand to them. "Have you had a change of heart yet?"

The man said nothing, just looked down in shame. The tall woman's face became livid.

"We don't have time for this! You know, don't you?!" She started yelling. "Will you talk or won't you?! Make up your mind already!"

"I cannot say anything." He still looked away as he almost mumbled. "The other believers are the same as I, and that will never change."

"Well , thanks for nothing!" Hange was throwing her fit, becoming animated as she spoke each word. "We're so grateful for all the help you've been!"

She started to stomp away, pausing only when his voice came out again.

"It's too great a decision for a single person to make." His voice began to shake. "The order of the walls must always adhere to the sacred will were bound to obey."

"Who's will?" She calmed down. "God or something?"

"I cannot say anything. However, I can inform you of a name, who under their sacred will, we were instructed to monitor."

"Monitor?"

"This person joined the scout regiment as of this year." He finally looked up, ignoring the trio of younger scouts. "Their name is Christa Renz."

"Excuse me!" Light green eyes peered at Sasha who just pushed through a door. "104 cadet corps! Sasha Braus!"

They all ignored her to begin questioning the priest.

"H-her?" Eren spoke out.

"Who's that?" Hange asked him.

"Um, this is for you, section commander." Sasha was trying to get her attention.

"You must find her at once." The priest locked eyes with the tall woman. "Only she...She May know the truths which even we cannot perceive. That is all the information I can share. The rest I leave in your hands."

Sasha was anxiously moving side to side behind the group.

"If she's in the 104th, then she's deep in the front lines right now." Hange spoke, wide eyed.

"Let's go!" Eren started to move quickly towards the horses. "We need to hurry!"

"Wait-" Sasha's voice was cut off as Eren smacked right into her. She laid on the floor for a second.

"Sasha?" The brunette leaned over her.

"What are you doing here?" The black haired woman spoke.

Sasha gasped and scrambled up to her feet. Grabbing the scroll she had run with.

"Upon my arrival, I gave my report to the commander. Afterwards, I was entrusted to deliver this message to the section commander!" She held out the paper in both hands and she bowed slightly.

"Message? Thank you. Good work." The tall woman traded her the paper for a potato. Walking away, not taking notice to the girls sudden happiness as she dug into the food. "So, who is this girl in the 104th?"

"She's the smallest one of us." His dark green eyes looked at her as he put his gear on.

"She's got long golden hair." Armin inputted. "Um, and, she's cute."

"She's always hanging around Ymir." Her dark grey eyes roamed over.

"Ymir..?" Both Hange and Levi's attention was caught.

While Levi was gazing at the group, he noticed the small chirping by his ear. The small bat that was nuzzled against his neck, noticing it got his attention spoke softly.

"Your chakra is soothing."

Sakura flinched and turned towards the man as she had heard the summon speak. Looking back over her captain, she closed her eyes, reaching out to his chakra with hers. His was similar to hers, not as smoothly wandering his body as hers did, but it did have a tranquil feel to it. Blinking, she opened her eyes, he was still at that of a genin's level, she was still unsure of how that happened. Gently, she

Reached out her chakra to touch his this time, and when the two forces hit, she saw his finger twitch, barely noticeable.

She crossed her arms and stared at her summon, who held no guilt for cuddling up to the man. Her bats loved her because of her chakra, they were social creatures, loving comfort in being able to nestle up against her to feel the calming aura. Plus she loved having the fuzzy animals nuzzle her whenever they could. Can't really do that with a slug, so Katsuyu was out of the question. Sasuke's hawks and snakes preferred to only do as told, liking being solitary. While Naruto's frogs and foxes were just too mischievous with whatever they did.

Breaking her thoughts of jealousy, she voiced what she just thought over to the captain.

"You know, she's right." His dark and half lidded eyes looked at her. "Ever since that day with the female titan, your chakra has increased. It's also soothing."

"I don't know what it is, or care, as long as it doesn't hurt my abilities."

"If you think it would harm them you're wrong." She smirked. "I'd like to think I'm better than you without the ODM."

"Only because you have magic." He glared, not full admitting it.

"Chakra."

"Whatever."

The rest of the group began to gather their horses. The Sakura clone and Levi following them and doing the same. Getting the horses near by they went over to the table where Hange was explaining a plan coming in at the end.

"Everyone understand?"

"Yes!" They all collectively responded.

"We've got to go!" Eren was rushing everyone.

"Calm down, Eren." Her captain stopped him. "You all listen, too. We're going on our own ways now. The rest is up to you. Erwin May have thrown together your squad but everything's riding on you. Got it, Armin? Work with Hange and combine your knowledge."

"Y-Yes, sir!"

"Mikasa." He drifted his eyes to the woman. "I don't know why you're so attached to Eren but, use the utmost of your ability to protect Eren at all costs."

"Yes, of course, sir."

"And finally, Eren." He took a step towards the boy. "Learn how to restrain yourself. Don't succumb to rage and lose sight of the goal. We can't afford another mistake."

"Yes,sir!"

He looked into her light green eyes, hers obviously confused. As the rest of the scouts had started to move away, she stood unsure of what to do.

"Sakura." He looked at the clone. "Don't hold back this time."

She nodded slowly, then began to lead her horse away, catching up to Hange's group easily. As they ran out from the gate she explained where they were going. Riding out the horses were lit by the torches they were all carrying.

"There's a tower nearby where we can assess the wall. It's an abandoned castle to the southwest. We'll ride to utgard castle."

Her eyes widened slightly, her original self should be nearby that if that's the right place her and naruto met. Armin seemed to remember this too and looked over to her with a small smile, one with hope.

————————————————————

It took her about an hour to find the pair.

At one point after she had began running, she had seen Frosch flying, calling him down just to order him to guide him straight to them if it would take less than another hour. Pushing one last jump, she landed underneath a large tree, looking over at the two blondes. She was breathing a little heavy and was flushed by the sudden run but not tired what so ever. Her worried eyes widening as she saw the mangled mess of the man's leg.

"Sakura-Chan!" Her blue eyed team beamed at her. "This guy here said he found you out with just his nose!"

"His nose is really strong." She smiled lightly at the man who was teetering in and out of consciousness. His small smirk was there.

She also noticed the ramen noodle cups scattered around the tree. She kneeled down beside her patient. "The man's on a death bed and you feed him ramen."

"What? He liked it."

Reaching down and undoing the tourniquet as she began to heal him. Sending a small flare of chakra to his brain, she made him fully alert. His leg and body were being blocked and numbed by her, so he wasn't in any pain as he came to. His drowsy eyes looked at her as he began to cry, hers stretching open in surprise. She snapped her head towards the other blonde, him quickly putting his hands up in peace.

"H-hold on S-Sakura-Chan." He put a smile on for her. "I only reassured him you'd make him able to walk again is all."

Her mouth opened slightly as her heart ached for a moment, she looked back down at crying man. For him, his legs were everything, even a reassurance he might live another day. This place wasn't like Konoha, if you couldn't fend for yourself, you'd die.

"Commander." The man looked up at her through foggy eyes. "I can easily fix your legs. You'll be back to trying to beat Captain Levi for the number one position."

"Y-Yeah..." He spoke hoarsely. Her frown reappearing from him talking.

Gently she reached a hand to his throat, pumping soothing chakra to it, feeling how the vocal cords have been strained and almost torn. It usually happened in cases when people thought they were going to die or extremely distraught, she wasn't surprised.

"Miche, everything's gonna be fine!" His blue eyes sparkled with promises.

"Naruto!" The man flinched at her voice. "Give some respect! He's a commander, address him as such!"

"But Sakura-chan-"

"-he can call me, Miche." The man looked at the younger blonde, as he started to tear up again. "He saved me. I was trying to give my team time, a-and, and, this giant titan... it spoke and it lead the others."

"Commander." She hushed him. "It's okay. You don't have to relive this, not right now."

His leg had been crushed in certain sections, almost grounded into dust from where she could tell the titan had bit down. With his leg numb she had been able to mold and meld it like it originally was. She had been hunched over for half an hour, she had been feeling a little rusty but was always proud of her own skills. The man had blinked at her in surprise and she stopped pumping the chakra into his leg, and now into his hands as she held them.

Pulling him up to his feel she

Gently commanded him to stand, take steps, squat, jump all while she was looking into every cell of his left leg. Smiling, she let go of him and had him do it on his own. When everything went as she expected she turned towards her teammate.

"Okay, now you can." Her face suddenly turning exasperated.

The commander had looked on confused until he saw the blonde blur, then seeing the pink haired woman being lifted up and spun, eventually pissing her off enough to hit him in the head.

"Come on, Sakura-chan! It's been forever!" The grown man started to whine.

"No!" She snapped. Miche only seeing her angry once before, only blinked at her sudden emotional turn with her teammate.

"Ahem." He coughed into his hand, earning a raised eyebrow from the both of them. "Sorry to interrupt, but we need to find a way back. So I can check on our people."

"That'll be easy." Naruto sat down, cross legged on the dirt.

The commander forwarded his eyes, about to comment until the boys body started to glow, an orange hue dancing around him. Jumping back when the boy opened his eyes, showing strange pupils as he pointed in a direction.

"Well over that way is Sasuke and a bunch of people."

"So we head that way." Both the men nodded.

The two shinobi paused, looking at the man for a second in the darkened night. He could only blink back in response.

"Do you prefer to ride something or fly?" The Uzumaki scratched his head as he asked.

"He's used to riding, so it's your turn." She glared at the boy. "I will make sure they are on best behavior too."

"You know they are already scared of you." He closed his eyes as he spoke to her. "Even Karuma is slightly intimidated."

"Good." She looked to the commander and smiled lightly. "We both understand that you can't keep up to our speed, we'll use one of his summons to have to ride on."

"Summons?" The man lifted an eyebrow.

"Yeah, so imagine a big fox..."

—————————————————————

His sword rested lightly in his hand. Crouched on a tree branch, he watched as the grey fog seemed to get closer. Watching as how the monsters drew in closer to the tower. His eyes glanced up as he noticed four soldiers who were on watch, two ran away, to probably alert the group that was inside, the other two watching in horror as the giants got closer. They had probably only just noticed the monsters because of the moon being uncovered by clouds, while he had perfect night vision.

The rest of the group started to run up the stairs, and onto the roof, having matching faces of fear. He watched as the pointed out the largest one, a large ape looking creature. He could have thought of it as a tailless beast for how it looked. It went off course from them, starting to head towards the large wall in the distance. His attention brought back as one of the other titans shoulder checked the tower, as if attempting to bring it down.

One began to try and break in the door at the bottom level. Some beginning to climb the side of the tower, all trying to find a way in. Jumping closer, he was easily hidden in the dark, not even needing a genjutsu. From his new position, he was able to hear the panicked voices.

"Wait, Wait, Wait up!" The mans voice was shrill. "Don't you even think of coming in here! You're freaking kidding me! Gotta be fricking kidding me! I'd be drinking right now if it wasn't for you! This is all your fault!"

"Stand back rookies!"

"Leave it to us!" A woman's voice spoke. "It's time for us to show off our ODM gear. Let's go!"

He looked away as he saw the large ape make it to the top of the wall, staring them all down.

Two small titans came running out of the woods along with a group. One of the small ones was making gleeful noises as it pushed the other small one down, ripping its ear off for no reason. Slapping the body with joy as the other titans kept walking by.

His attention went back to the soldiers, as four sprang down from the roof. One man slicing a large titans hand, knocking it down from the wall it was trying to climb, as one woman came in to slice its nape, effectively dropping it, right on top of 3 small titans.

"Look at that! Those little ones got squished by the fatty." The man laughed. "Dumbass."

"That was way too reckless." She belittled him. "Couldn't you have avoided that without wasting your blades?"

"That's just how I do things." He smirked at her. "You better chalk that one up as an assist. "

"How heroic of you." She looked down, seeing one of the small ones crawl out from underneath the large titan. "I'll think about it."

One of the other females landed on said small titan, cutting its nape. She looked up to see the front door smashed in.

"I'm too late!" She flew up to hang next to her teammates. "The doors bashed in!"

The same woman flew up to the roof to the other group. The man in the cloak listening in.

"The titan broke through. Go back down and form some sort of barricade. If you can't block them, retreat up here as a last resort. But that doesn't mean we'll be able to help you though. I'm not sure if we'll still be alive if it come down to that. We've all gotta do what we've been trained to do. Give it all we've got till we die! Understand?!"

"Got it!" He heard multiple voices reply to the woman.

She jumped down from the roof and he took the opportunity to go to it. Following the rest of the group down he used the ceiling and walls to go lower without being noticed. Following behind a large blonde man.

"I'll go see how far they've come through!" The man grabbed a torch off the wall. "You guys grab boards or rods or whatever! Bring everything you can carry!"

"Reiner!" A little female called out.

"Hey!" A tall man hollered down, pushing the others out of the way. "Wait up, Reiner, hold on!"

"Who does he think he is, always taking the most dangerous job?" A bald man spoke. "Come on, man!"

"Yeah." The tall man spoke. "That's a bad habit of his."

Moving ahead as the man made distance between him and the group to the lower floor, he walked quietly and the man opened a door. Creeping down the stares as he looked all around him, as if looking for the monster to be just about anywhere. Making it fully down he stopped at the next door, one with a wooden block still on it, locking it in place. He lifted the lock off, opening the door all the where to the point even the hidden man behind him could see clearly down.

The titan was just staring, a gleeful smile as it was caught going up the steps, pausing and sitting still as Reiner and it stared at each other. It started to crinkle its eyes and give an evil laugh, causing the blonde man the close the door as quick as he could, holding it shut as he quickly put the lock back on. The monsters slamming against the other side with ease, the man's torch rolling away from one of the slams causing him to drop it.

"They're here!" He yelled out in a panicked voice. "Bring something, quick!"

An arm smashed through the door by his head. Attempting to grab him as it swung around. Ducking as he rolled forward away from the door, landing with his back on the stairs to look up at the titan with half its body coming through the door.

"Reiner!"

The blonde looked up to see his tall friend with a spear, aiming it into the titans eye. Hitting his mark, Reiner got up and assisted the other man in pushing the stick in deeper and holding it in place.

"Reiner, are you okay?!"

"Yeah!" He looked at the other man. "Bertholdt, were gonna survive and go home! We're going back to our home town for sure!"

"R-right! We're going home!"

"Reiner! Bertholdt!" The two girls and bald boy had a cannon perched at the top of the stairs.

"Hey, that's...have powder?! A cannonball?!"

"Hell no! You'll just have to take the whole thing!" They began to push it. "Get out of the way!"

The cannon began to roll down the stairs quick, heading straight for the door and then. They barely made it away from the door before it got smashed in. Titans along with it. They all stared for a few seconds.

"Looks like that worked out, miraculously." The brunette female spoke.

"Yeah." Reiner found his voice. "It's not getting up from that. Not one that size."

"What now?" The bald boy held up the blade. "All we have now is a knife. Should I cut off its nape?"

"Don't even try." The blonde gave him a stern look. "You'll get hurt if it grabs you."

"For now, let's retreat back up stairs." The small woman spoke. "There could be more than just one that got inside."

Her eyes widened as she looked down the stairs, a titan coming up as if she had jinxed it, behind the bald boy who was standing near the door. It's stomp made him fully aware of its presence.

"Conny!" She yelled out.

It's mouth wide open, going to bite said boy. The blonde man moving just quick enough to push the boy back with one hand and the other pushing the titans mouth away. The titan using the chance to bite down on his arm instead.

"Reiner!" The small blonde tried to run down to him, only to be blocked by the other woman.

The titan began to bite down even harder, the cracking of bone being heard. It was enough for him to finally take action. In less than a second he had drawn his sword, jumped behind the titan, sliced its nape open and jumped back, a little distance from the group. Not bothering to hide at all. The titan suddenly losing weight threw off the blondes balance, it's jaw slipping free from his arm as he landed on his knees. Eyes wide and shocked as he just stared.

"Uh...Reiner...how did you..." Conny couldn't finish his sentence or form it.

"Reiner!" The tall man ran up to him, checking his arm.

"W-Who...?" The blonde man ignored him, just eyes wide as he looked around, his eyes to be the first to land of the cloaked figure. Suddenly being able to yell out. "Who are you?!"

The rest turned, to stare at the tall man in a cloak, his face covered by a white bird mask, his sword held out to his side with the steam coming off of it, proving he was the one that did it. He ignored them completely, jumping to the top of the stairs, leaving them shocked as he walked calmly out the top door.

"Who was that?!" The bald kid yelled again.

"I don't know...but whoever that is, saved his ass." Ymir looked down at the blonde, who was clutching his arm. "Could have showed up a little quicker though."

"They are upstairs, is it safe for us to be there?" The small blonde worried.

"He just saved us, so, let's assume he's good." Reiner spoke himself. Walking away as they all began to scramble with supplies to blockade the door.

Eventually they got enough to block the door, and hammer in supports that won't let the door budge at all.

"We won't be lucky enough to rely on that guy to kill another one." The bald boy spoke as he hammered at the supports.

"Yeah, I'm with you there." Bertholdt spoke up behind him.

Christa was tending to Reiner, rolling his sleeve up to get a look at the bite. Popping open a bottle of alcohol as she poured it over the wound, cleaning it out.

"Sorry...I'm sorry." She put the bottle down after using it all. "I think it's broken."

"Yeah just my luck."

"We'll need a splint and a bandage." She did an 'o' shape with her mouth, as she stood up. "Oh! I know!"

She started to rip her skirt, tearing it at thigh level. Reiner watched speechlessly from next to her.

"Sorry." She sat back down to dress his arm. "All I got is this dirty cloth. Sorry."

"No, it helps." He looked away, a conflicted look on his face.

She made the wrap into a splint, wrapping it around his neck as the others stood by.

"Are you alright? Reiner?" Conny spoke with his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, I guess."

"By the way, Christa." Ymir spoke up, pouting while holding her hand. "My hand got scrapped up a bit too."

"Huh?" The bald boy looks disturbed at the lecherous stare she had. "Just go spit on it or something. Sorry about that, Reiner. It seems like you're always saving my ass. Speaking of which, Annie risked her life to save me, too. I've gotta pay you back sometime."

"Not really, it's the normal thing to do." The blondes face was pinched. "Because we're soldiers."

"I'm not sure about that." Conny looked away with shame. "I doubt I could ever be that brave. Hey, Bertholdt. Has Reiner always been like this?"

"No...in the past Reiner was more of a warrior." Giving the blonde man a small glare. "Unlike now."

"What's that mean?" He responded back to him. "What do you mean by warrior."

"For now, let's try and gather anything useful we can find." She interrupted their conversation. Ymir looked out the window. "That way, when we die, we can do so without regrets."

She popped her head out the window, see lots of the titans dead but still a decent amount alive.

When he had walked up the stairs, he had gone straight to the roof, figuring they could take care of themselves for a little longer. He watched over the edge, as the four below were taking out the monsters, now with visible struggling. They started to come closer to the top of the tower, dangling off the sides like spiders.

"That takes care of most the big ones." The man spoke.

"Good thing we have this tower." The woman replied.

"Yeah, we might actually survive."

"We'll go check on the recruits." The other two spoke up.

They landed and were shocked by him, just staring at him before a large rocket noise was heard. Diverting their attention away from the strange man.

"What is that?!" Suddenly there was an explosion, one on the ground level at the stables. All of the horses were killed.

The sound was happening again. He watched with red glaring eyes as the ape threw the rock, hurdling it towards them with immense speed. Ripping his mask off he jumped in front of the soldiers, in the path the bouldering was coming from. His hand signs just blurred movements to them.

"Katon; great dragon flame no jutsu!" He breathed out a large flame continuously, it kept getting bigger and bigger.

The flame started to show shape, he would notice it and other shinobis, but the civilians wouldn't know what happened. The flame soon turned into a full length dragon, well over 50 feet long, it opened its mouth the take the brunt of the rock. Crashing against the fire of its body as it maneuvered it's long winding self, to change the direction of the rock. Said rock went hurdling to the floor, smashing into a titan on its way, destroying its head completely.

Ending the jutsu, he stood up, deactivating his sharigan and stared down the beast in the distance. The two soldiers behind him scared shitless. The woman had peed herself as she looked on in horror, the other just staring at him.

"What was that?!" The bald man came running up the stares. Only to stop and stare at the man in the cloak, across from two petrified soldiers.

He was followed by Reiner, the other two soldiers zipping up the tower to check on their teammates.

"Lynne!" The short blonde hair female yelled. "What happened?!"

"T-there...h-he...f-fire..." They took time to look at the handsome stoic man. His face was blank showing no emotions.

"It's you again!" Conny yelped at him.

"Do you rookies know this man?!" They flinched and shook their head.

"They don't know me." His deep voice hit their ears, they just stared at him. "I'm only here to assist."

"H-he spit f-fire out of h-his mouth." The one pony tailed woman whispered.

"Would you rather the rock have killed you and your partner." His cold eyes made her flinch.

"It's him!" Conny's voice brought his attention on him. "The one that walked towards the wall! The beast titan did this!" He gasped as he looked off the side of the tower. "A group of titans approaching! More than twice the amount from earlier!"

Sasuke calmly walked up to the side of the other man. Staring out with his dark eyes, not saying anything.

"What'd you say?!"

"Their timing is too perfect, almost like it's a strategy." She grabbed onto her teammates arm. "I get the feeling they've been toying with us from the start."

A scream in the distance was heard, taking a guess, Sasuke looked over to see in the distance the giant figure had its arms raised. He narrowed his eyes, when the grey haze of chakra seemed to get closer. Titans hit the tower from down below, shaking it back and forth. Everyone was clenching on to something to hold on tight.

"Hey!" He lazily look over at the blonde with short hair. "If what was said was true, you need to protect this tower from more incoming rocks! We'll take care of the rest."

He raised an eyebrow as she and the rest of the three in gear jumped down. It was pointless, he looked over to the wall, the large figure no longer on it.

The other began their attack, distracting the titans and only causing some of them to hit the tower as they moved away. The blonde woman had killed a titan, knocking it into the smaller tower by the large on. Destroying the small on, she could only watch as it fell into their main one. The two that had been scared on the top of the tower, were recklessly going head first. Not paying attention to other titans or themselves. They man and woman accidentally tied their ropes together, one was avoiding a titan swing and the other was moving away. Throwing both of the off momentum, the string tying around the man's foot. He landed himself against the wall but could only watch in horror and the woman below him was screaming. Her body had been grabbed and was beginning to be torn in different ways. In his panicked he couldn't get the rope off, only to be pulled down the the mess below.

Sasuke hopped onto the ledge, drawing his sword out to his side. Only to be stopped by the others on the rooftop. It was the bald boy once again.

"W-Wait!" He sounded panicky. "You can't go down there! You need to help us!"

"I am." He had a bored look.

"Going down there and getting yourself killed won't help us-"

"-Gelgar!" They heard a scream from below.

Running over to the side, compared to Sasuke's casual approach, they watched as the two were being ripped apart. While the man had already looked down, his legs in one titans mouth as another ripped his arms off, the woman was very much alive and screaming as she was ripped in all directions.

"They got him." Conny fell to his knees.

The small blonde girl grabbed a rock, chucking it down as hard as she could.

"Quit it, Christ's!" The tall woman grabbed her arms. "The towers about to crumble, you'll fall!"

"But they're dying in our place!" She pleaded.

"Damn it all to hell!" The bald boy grabbed at his own face.

Sasuke stares them down, once again going to move, he twirled his blade one time. Without saying anything he jumped down, ignoring the horrified gasps as he did so. He moved quick, slicing the nape of every titan he passed by. They all started to slowly fall over, steam evaporating in random spots to the eyes of the scouts. He killed about 35 until he paused, sticking to the side of the tower with chakra and looking around to see if he had missed any. He jumped down to the ground level after nothing was moving to see if any were playing possum. When nothing continued to move he jumped back up the tower, landing in front of all of them without making a noise.

They all stared just dumbstruck for a moment, the first one to speak was the little blonde.

"W-way t-to g-go." She looked terrified.

"Hey!" He turned to the blonde man. "Just what exactly are you?"

"A shinobi." He looked away from them and started to plot a plan to get them down safely.

"What's a 'shinobi'?" Christa whispered to Ymir. Only to get a shrug as a response.

"Hey...do we just wait here until sunrise or the tower falls..." Conny whispered. "Is there nothing we can do about it?"

"I want to know, why didn't he do anything quicker." Ymir flinched when glowing red eyes were glaring at her.

They all paused at that, just staring at the ruby eyes that were lazily spinning as if putting them in a trance. Before he blinked and his eyes went to normal.

"A-are you a titan shifter...?" Reiner asked slowly.

"A what?" The eyes slowly faded back to black.

"Titan shifter." Ymir gained her courage back. "Can you turn into one of those things."

"No." He boredly looked around again.

The sun was starting to come up, lighting the world around them lighter colors. Looking over at the soldiers by him he decided to just do it the least chakra tasking way to get them all down. Walking up to the bald boy first he grabbed him around the stomach, lifting him up with a lot of complaints and flailing. None of it even moving the uchiha.

"H-hey!" The boy was screaming. "What are you doing?! Let me go!"

He began to walk up to the small blonde girl just for the tall brunette to get in his way.

"Get away from her!" She hissed at him. The boy still flopping around in his vice grip.

"You can get done safely or die in this tower." He held icy eyes to hers. "It's up to you."

She looked at questionably as he reached and grabbed her around the waist. Walking over to the side, he hopped up on the ledge. Now there was a lot of screaming from all of them, and them panicking. He made the job before the three others tried to grab at him. While it was less than a second to reach the ground, the bald boy was crying his eyes out and the woman couldn't stop screaming. He dropped them none too gently. Ymir was glaring daggers at the man while Conny's tears stayed flowing.

Jumping back up the tower, the other three stood back as they had been watching over the side, and saw their friends alive and well at the bottom. He grabbed onto the two men, repeating the process as before, before finally going to grab the small blonde, putting her down the most gently out of them all. After he had them all down he just stared into the distance.

"Thanks for that." Conny sniffled. "But can you give us warning next time?!"

"I've never had my stomach drop like that on the ODM gear.." Ymir whispered.

Bertholdt was unapologetically throwing up.

"H-how..." Reiner just stared at the man.

His eyes took a look of pure horror as the man's cloak swayed open in front of them, as he put his blade away. The man had no gear, he was literally just doing it on his own. He followed the gaze of them man only to gasp. A scout team was coming towards them.

What he didn't see was the chakra that was coming from both directions of them. Both his teammates.

People came flying in with their gear, obviously expecting a titan or two to still be alive. Mikasa coming in first, the most confused out of all of them. Landing next to their group, as Sasuke had stood about ten or fifteen feet away, she looked around for any movement.

"Everyone, Get back to the horses." Finally turning around as she saw nothing moving. Others beginning to land on the ground, just as openly confused.

The black haired female finally paid attention to the cloaked man, who was watching her blankly.

"Who are you?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Sasuke." His deep voice said evenly.

"He said he's a shinobi!" Conny yelled from beside her, causing her eyes to go wide, his narrowing at her recognition to the word.

"Are you...Sakura's teammate?" She spoke slowly.

He didn't speak, only nodded in response. Suddenly a voice was heard booming in the area.

"Have the others disperse and cover the area! The rest of us will gather over by the bodies!" Hange yelled out. Only to tell out again as Eren zipped by her. "Hey!"

He had moved quick out, expecting titans to be around, only to find there wasn't any. When he wasn't paying attention in the air his lines tangled, causing his to stumble in the air and fall, rolling a few feet before sitting up and groaning.

"You moron! I told you to stay back, Eren!"

"Right, I'm sorry!" The boy yelled back with no remorse.

The Uchiha's dark eyes stared at the boy, watching as he acted just like his best friend. It was almost painful.

"Hey, Eren!" Conny and the rest of them yelled out, going to run towards the brunette.

"You guys!" He looked confused yet happy to see them.

Looking around, he watched as the others in the uniform were just standing around, trying to figure out what had happened. A few murmuring how none of them had gear or supplies to be taking out this number of titans. His teammate finally showing her face, sending a sly smile to him as she approached two boys. The blonde boy started speak to the brunette, both kept looking his way, then saying something to the girl, who was obviously messing with them, their staring gained his attention. He lifted an eyebrow as they got closer.

"You're Sakura's teammate?" The blonde shyly asked.

He nodded at them, slowly.

"Are you Naruto or Sasuke?" The brunette seemed excited to know.

"Sasuke." Narrowing his eyes at the boy and to the snickering pinkette behind them when they seemed disappointed.

"Sasuke-kun, relax, they just have something in common is all." She warmly smiled at the boy.

"Hn." He gave a final glare at her before addressing the elephant. "Where is your body?"

She sighed, ignoring the two boys openly asking how he knew she was a clone. "Eren, Armin, he can tell by my chakra level. And as for myself, I met up with Naruto with a patient. We were supposed to meet here though, but better late then never."

"You and him will both end up like Kakashi." He stared at her.

"We'll be late and you'll be carrying porn." She laughed at the faces of embarrassment from the other two next to her. Turning towards the field she squinted as she tried to see herself and her teammate. "Good news, Eren. You can meet Naruto today too."

"Wait really?!" The boy lit up, the blonde beside him confused.

"Yep, give it like ten seconds, maybe less because of this man." She pointed at a visibly annoyed Sasuke, who saw the orange as it got closer.

"Huh? What do-"

"Sasuke!" Said man was beginning to draw his sword, only for the clone to stop his hand before disappearing.

Side stepping as the orange blur came closer, attempting to get him in a tackle. Sakura coming up a little slower as she had cargo, the man had a face of death. They thought it best not to scare a company of scouts with a giant fox after an ape had just caused all these problems.

"Miche!" She heard Hange scream as she ran closer.

Putting said man down gently, she checked him over one last time.

"Miche!" The Section Commander slid right over to them. "You're alive! There's nothing wrong with your leg?! What was that whole scare about then!?"

"Oh!" Hange for the first time noticed the two men standing very tall over her, thanks to the blonde. "Sakura-chan, she healed him all up. He's good now."

"Huh?" The woman just stared blankly at the commander, reaching out to poke his leg.

"Hange." The man stood up. "I need to get in contact with Erwin and Levi."

A small puff in front of him drew the face of death and acceptance onto him again. His eyes were dark as he looked down at the small bat in her hands.

"Please tell her everything you need to pass along." The pink haired woman smiled. "Haya-San is attached to Levi currently, she can report your words straight to him."

He could only nod as her stared at the creature and relayed every detail of the event to it. After he was finished, he just stared blankly as it popped out of existence on his hand. Looking up at the three shinobi, he spoke lowly.

"Please, no more animals for a while."


	13. Warrior

"Sakura." The Section Commander called out to her.

Turning away from her team, she looked at the tall woman who was walking up to her. The brunette took in the small group that was standing around before speaking.

"As curious as I am for knowledge, we will hold a conversation about these two when we get to the wall." Her face was slightly serious, but the pink haired woman sweat dropped to the hidden level of excitement in her eyes.

"Yes, Section Commander."

"Oh!" The tall woman turned towards the group, focusing in on the two of her teammates. "I'm Hange Zoe, I hope we can rely on you two, similar to Sakura's agreement."

"Sasuke Uchiha." His monotone voice spoke.

"Naruto Uzumaki, and don't you worry!" He gave the woman a large smile. "We're gonna do everything we can."

"U-Um, excuse me..." Eren's voice came out nervously, gaining the spouting blonde's attention. "You're the teammate...with..you know?"

"Huh?" His blue eyes looked over to the kunoichi, visibly confused, only sparking recognition when she pointed at her own stomach. "Oh, yeah. Karuma."

"Eren, Naruto, this is a conversation we can hold for another time." She looked behind her at the group getting ready to move out. "We can discuss everything when we get back."

"Okay.." The brunette started to walk away, trying not to seem disappointed.

"What's up with him?" Her blonde asked lowly.

"He has a power that turns him into one of those creatures." She sadly looked on at the retreating boy.

"That's why he was asking.." Naruto reached up and scratched the back of his head.

"It's common ground for him. He's trying to find some footing with the idea that he's different. Unfortunately so far, the only one who had the same ability turned out to be an enemy." She sighed.

"Sounds similar." He weakly smiled at her. "Not all first time meeting someone with the same powers can lead to that person being a kazekage."

"Not with this world at least." She started to lead them towards the group, as she looked out for injured.

"Be thankful we don't have those things back in fire country." Sasuke added grimly.

"What are those things anyway?!" The blonde sidled up against her with a dramatic face.

"They aren't sure." She frowned and pushed her with one arm. "They've just always been around, at least from what everyone says."

"All that time and they only found one way to kill them?" The dark eyed man lifted an eyebrow as he walked along side them.

"It's actually the only proven way, yes." She thought for a moment. "Well, anything that can destroy the nape. Cutting is confirmed, but maybe weight or burning them could also work?"

"But with them all civilian level, chakra is off the table." He scratched his head again.

"We can figure something out." She turned to them suddenly and grabbed both of their hands, neither fighting the action. "We're back together, we'll figure it out along side them. Until we can find a way home."

Naruto went in for a hug, grabbing her around the torso and lifting her, ignoring her half hearted insults at him. She pouted when Sasuke had walked up closer and just poked her forehead, his face blank as he stared into the pouting face.

"Alright, Alright!" She smacked the blonde in the back of the head, giving them a warm smile when she was let down. "I get it! I missed you guys too!"

"Sakura!" All three of them turned to the brunette boy yelling from a wagon. "You guys can join our wagon!"

Nodding the three of them walked over to the boys wagon. Her green eyes had noticed one man with a bandaged arm, but he showed no face of pain even as it was slightly jostled so she didn't go to assist him. Hoping in the back, she realized it was trio facing trio. She was wedged in between her boys just as Eren was with his friends. The horses all began to move out at the command by Hange.

"Let's go!"

It was silent for a while, neither groups saying anything as they stared at each other or into the sky, or had their eyes closed like a certain Uchiha. Eren was drilling holes into her blondes head, until eventually he sighed and gave in to the boy.

"So, um, Eren, right?" He smiled lightly at him.

"Yes, sir!" The brunette sat up straight.

"S-sir?" His ocean eyes blinked.

"Naruto, it's a military structure here." She pinched his arm, daring him to make fun of the boy.

"Ow! Uh, okay." He frowned at her then looked back to him. "Anything you're, uh, curious about?"

Her dainty hand slapped her face, never let down by her teammates suaveness. Sasuke continued to ignore them all, keeping his eyes closed as the two boys in front of them perked up with the chance to ask questions.

"Do you punch like Sakura?" The brunette asked quickly.

"No, that's her specialty, mines even cooler." She rolled her eyes as he crossed his arms, attempting to look the part. "I create hundreds of clones, use sage powers and control a condensed ball of air that destroys everything!"

"Are all of you able to create clones?" Armin spoke up gently as the brunette just stared slightly confused.

"Yeah that's like the first thing we all learn how to do!"

"Except when you're last place, like him." Sasuke spoke, still not opening his eyes.

"Hey! Shut up teme!" The blonde snapped and glared at the man.

"What they are trying to say is, you guys haven't seen much besides the basics." Sakura brought the attention to her. "Every shinobi can do the basic Justus, but most stick to their affinities to base their higher level stuff on."

"What is an affinity?" The black haired female finally spoke up.

"Think of it like your element." She was moving her hands slightly as if it helped explain. "So while I don't exactly have one, Naruto is wind while Sasuke is fire."

"So he can walk through fire and not get burned?" The smaller blonde tried to guess.

"Nope, he isn't that cool." Naruto tried to come in smoothly. "He just creates it a lot easier than the rest of us."

"How..." Eren tried to figure out how he wanted to word it. "How do you control your, um, thing?"

"Karuma, the Kyuubi." Naruto sighed and looked at the boy seriously. "He's been in me since I was a kid. It took me a long time to figure out how to work with him, but eventually me and him began friends. He's not bad like they make him out to be in stories."

"You befriended him?" Dark green eyes just blinked, confused.

"He's a separate entity inside, Naruto." Her light green eyes staring into his, somewhat sadly. "He's not exactly the same as you. But he's gone through a lot of hardships, just like you have."

The brunette looked down at his hands, his cloak shifting on his shoulders from the wind.

"I still won't give up." The boy's dark green eyes snapped to an ocean blue. "My friends depended on me. Nothing has and nothing will get in my way. Try to keep that mentality, and it'll be okay."

"Yes, sir!"

"I'm not-listen can you just call me, Naruto?" He put a hand to his face.

"O-okay!" Eren replied with a smile.

It was silent again, Sakura took the time to stare at the approaching wall, everything around it being gloomly lit by the over cast sky. The trio in front of them held back more questions, they knew it wasn't the place or time to be going in depth.

"Sakura." Her light green eyes flickered over to pitch black. "Who can be trusted?"

The three friends looked visibly upset at the question, unsure of where he was going with it. The pink haired woman knew he meant it as who to listen to around here. She frowned as she looked at him, she was going to give honesty and that was it. Thinking of it now, she only truly trusted about five of the scouts.

"These three, Hange and Captain Levi."

"Not even Commander Erwin?" Armin looked at her with a thoughtful stare.

"I don't like life being thrown away easily." She shook her head lightly. "It's just something he's known to do if it fits a narrative for humanity."

"Huh? You think that way of him?" Eren asked with a small scowl on his face.

"He's an talented commander, don't get me wrong, it's not the same principle we have back home." She looked over sadly at the other two, just the mention of home chipping at her heart.

"We're here!" Hange yelled up ahead, the horses all begin to slow as the came up to the side of the wall.

As they all began to dismount small drops of rain fell down on them in slow intervals. The crew around them getting the small lifts ready, lifting each other up one by one.

Sakura was the first to move out of her team, walking up to the wall and then literally walking up it. Peering down when she got to about 15 feet high, some of the unknown scouts gasping at the unusual sight. Some already getting used to her antics. Her team following in her steps, going a normal pace as if they were just strolling through the woods.

"Hey! Take me up with you!" The bald boy started to yell from below them, making them pause.

Green and blue eyes blinked in confusion, noticing how an outstretched finger pointing at their annoyed teammate. The orange clad male decided to poke fun at him, jabbing him with an elbow as he spoke with a sly grin.

"Picking up men now, Sasuke?"

He lost his grip on the wall when a kick sent him flying down next to the boy, indenting the earth were he crashed down. The look of horror etched on the Conny's face and a few other scouts, as they didn't see what happened, one second he the blonde was on the wall, and the next he was rocketed into the earth. The boys wide eyes could only just stare at the man who started to easily stand, completely uninjured and just looking irritated.

"Hey! What gives, Sasuke!?" He jumped up to his feet, stomping his way back up the wall.

"It looked like you wanted to be kicked." The man calmly replied to him.

"Well, I think you look like you want to be kicked!" The blonde continued stomping up the wall.

Raising a small eyebrow, she started to make her way down, confusing the blonde for a moment before crouching, hovering just to the side of the bald man's shoulders.

"I'll take you up if you want. Those lifts do look like death traps to me personally." She reached her arms out like a hug to him.

Nodding slowly, he moved closer, she then picked him up in a princess hold. Him gripping on tight and regretting it instantly as he looked down and realized there wasn't ropes to prove they would make it all the way up.

She continued to walk up, ignoring his light shaking as she caught up to her boys. After a few moments his curiosity seemed to get the best of him.

"How are you guys doing this?!" He almost yelled in her ear, the soldiers on the lifts watching just as puzzled.

"We're just focusing our chakra to our feet, just imagine it's like suction cups." She smiled at him.

"That could have been you, Teme." Naruto snickered, avoiding a fist flying at him.

"Those two will never stop." She gave a mock glare as she spoke to the boy in his arms.

"They remind me of Jean and Eren." He lifted an eyebrow at the pair. "Though they still might be a little cooler."

"Ha, hear that, Teme?" The blonde started to preen with the statement.

"Please don't encourage them, Conny." She sighed.

Finally reaching the top, all three of them easily just shifting weight to now standing up right on the flat surface. Putting the boy down, they looked around the top of the wall, and all around it.

There wasn't too much woods scattered around compared to open fields, letting them see far into the distance and even mountains that stretched around. The darkened sky giving it an eerie vibe.

A few of the scouts gathered on the sides, assisting each other up. Eren, was staring at the blonde commander that was distracted by the other soldiers.

"He looks like there's nothing wrong with him." He forwarded his eyebrows.

"That's because there isn't." Her light green eyes shifted over to him. "I healed him completely. He was a mess when I first got there, Naruto had saved his life."

"What happened out there?" His eyes darkened as they looked over at her.

"I wasn't there, Eren." She looked across the wall, staring at Hange, who was talking to a small blonde. "It's up to Commander Miche to explain to all of us. Naruto probably doesn't know the full story either."

They heard a struggling breath as they saw a single arm grasp at the top of the wall. The injured blonde man from earlier. Eren walked over to help him, reaching an arm out as he crouched by him.

"Reiner! Grab on!"

"Right!" The man smiled as he reached out, grasping the others forearm.

Easily getting him all the way up, he sat on his rear and just took a second to catch his breath.

Then the small blonde started to raise her voice, her female companion staring at the Section Commander with distaste.

"It is Historia Reiss. Please believe me, I'm telling the truth!"

Hange continued to look on with a stoic stare.

The girl started up again. "I joined with no regard for my life. My judgement up until now isn't exactly forgivable, I was lying about who I was to leadership. But I did it in order to protect myself, by staying quiet about who I am. I'm an ally of humanity!"

"I see." She kept her voice even as she responded. "Obviously, I hope we can build a trusting relationship with you. The information you have is a treasure to humanity. But, you know, this world becomes more of a confusing mess as everyday passes. Reiss...that's a noble family?"

"Yes, that's right." The light blonde and both the tall brunettes began to walk. Her face was sad as the name was spoken.

"I see." Hange turned, putting her hands on the small girls shoulders. "Nice to meet you, Historia."

"Yeah..."

"Now, then." The woman walked away, towards her own soldiers. "Our original mission...was to seal this wall."

Sakura stood by her dark haired teammate, Naruto was wondering around helping others out. Standing a distance away, with their shinobi hearing catching everything as they watched over everyone.

"Damn, it hurts..." The blonde was rubbing his arm, his voice caught Eren's attention.

"You all right, Reiner?" The brunette looked over his shoulder.

"Not by a long shot." The man put a hand to his face, covering it. "A titan nearly gnawed off my arm. That was...pathetic. I thought I was done for."

The brunette looked away as his blonde friend was getting up over the wall in front of him. He reached out and helped Armin up and over.

"Even someone as strong as you gets this way sometimes." He finally responded to the large man.

"What are you talking about? This is a second time for me!" He looked up with a stern face towards the two smaller men, his partner standing behind him with a distance look. "Tell him, Armin!"

"Huh?"

"Remember that time I almost got crushed in a titans hand?"

"Oh..." The smaller blonde looked thoughtful. "Back then..."

"That makes twice I've nearly died. At this rate, I'll be dead before I know it." He put a fist to his forehead. "I picked this path on my own, but being a soldier is rough. It's like a soldiers spirit breaks down before their body does. Though, until we plug up this wall, there's no time to waste whining about it."

"Yeah.." Eren began to speak. "You two have been driven far away from your hometown. I'm thinking...this is where we gotta draw the line."

"He's right, Reiner!" The tallest man spoke, raising his arms out. "Our home town! Let's return! Isn't it about time to go back?! Compared to all the trouble we've been through, what's left to do is nothing!"

The two younger boys were looking at the two with confusion.

"That's right!" The blonde was excitedly answering his partner. "We're so close! It's just a few more steps till the end!"

"Huh?" Eren whispered. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Is everyone clear?" Hange's voice was loud and grabbed all their attention. "Conny, I'll arrange to have a scout squad investigate your village later. For the time being, I want you to focus on the mission to fix the wall. Got it?"

"Got it!" The bald boy replied.

"Still, I expected this place to be swarming with titans."

They looked over the way to the horses below getting closer. A blonde man leading caught the attention of Mikasa.

"Hannes?"

"It's the garrison advance squad." Hange explained. "They came to tell us where the hole is."

They waited as the man came up the wall on a lift, he struggled to even get his head over the side before he spoke.

"There's no hole anywhere!" His face was strained.

"Huh?" Eren twitched.

"We spent all night looking for it..." The scouts began to assist him up. "...but at least between trost and krovla district, there's nothing wrong with the wall."

"What'd you say?!" The Section Commander was frustrated.

"We bumped into soldiers from krovla and retraced our steps. We haven't seen any titans the whole way here."

"But.." Armin spoke up. "We know for sure there's titans on this side of the wall."

"Are you sure you actually looked?" Eren spoke with displeasure. "Are you sure you're not drunk?"

"I didn't drink!" He glared at the boy. "Wait, why are all of you here, anyways?"

The three just stared at him, a little confused before Hange drew their attention again.

"If there's no hole in the wall, so be it." She scratched at her chin. For now, we're falling back to trost district!"

Some of the soldiers following her as she began to walk away. Hannes stayed with the trio, wanting to leave a send off with them.

"Whatever you do, don't let your guard down." He turned away. Commander Miche joining him. "We're going back ahead of you."

They jumped off the side of the wall and used his gear to go to his horse.

"There's nothing wrong with the wall..." The brunette couldn't grasp it.

"What could this mean?" Armin began to walk away, along with Mikasa. "There's been nothing like this in five years. Why all of a sudden now?"

"The worlds getting more and more out of hand." Sasha spoke ahead of them as they walked away, leaving Eren behind.

Sakura and Sasuke stayed where they were at, Naruto standing a few feet away staring off in the same direction they were. She glanced over as she saw Eren about to take a step and follow his friends when he was stopped.

"Eren." Reiner called out to him. "Have a minute? We need to talk."

Between the conversation she overheard from earlier, it had seemed sketchy, this only adding onto her doubts.

"What about?" The brunette turned back towards the two men, stepping closer.

"Five years ago, we demolished the walls and began our attack on humanity."

Her light green eyes widened, as she kept them forward. Ignoring the section commander talking about if the titans dug holes in the ground, she instead put all her focus on the conversation not far from her.

"I'm the armored titan, and he's the colossal titan."

Her eyes finally shot to where they were standing, clenching her fist, she steadily hummed her chakra through her body, sending the warning of a soon to be fight to her teammates. Sasuke simply glanced over, remaining relaxed while Naruto started to narrow his eyes.

"Huh?" The brunette was dumbfounded, Mikasa stopped and turned to the sound of his voice. "What are you talking about?"

"Why are you telling him, Reiner?" The tall man grabbed the blondes arm and squeezed.

"Our primary goal was to ensure that all of humanity was to be wiped out." He said it so calmly, it pissed her off even more, now she had her body turned towards them. "But now there's no need for that."

"Uh..." She would have facepalmed if this wasn't so serious.

"Eren." The blonde was still speaking as if this was said over tea. "If you agree to come with us, we won't have to destroy anymore walls. Understand?"

"Huh?" Her eye twitched at him before he continued. "No, wait! I don't understand at all!"

"I'm saying, why don't you just come with us?" He was being so polite about murdering people. The tall man next to him just staring with wide eyes. "I know this is sudden, but we need to go now."

"Right now? Where will you take me?" He finally started to narrow his eyes.

"I can't say that yet." He looked away briefly. "But.. it's something like our hometown. So, what will it be, Eren?"

"Uh..."

"It's not a bad deal, right?" He tried to make it sound sweet. "You can easily avert this crisis."

"I wonder about that." He looked away from them.

If Sakura had looked to the side she would have noticed the dark look on Mikasa, but her light green eyes stayed drilled into the two men.

"Hey! We're leaving!" Armin yelled from behind them.

Eren looked straight up to the sky, closed his eyes and crossed his arms, thinking it over. Finally looking down and grasping the other man's shoulders.

"You're just tired, aren't you? Right, Bertholdt? You've been through so much it's making you crazy!"

"Y-Yeah." The tall man stuttered out, looking in shock. "Reiner's just really tired."

Why was Eren not taking them seriously? From what she could tell they weren't lying at all. One glance at now red eyes next to her proved she wasn't just seeing things or hearing them.

"Besides, If you were really the armored titan that wants to destroy humanity...why would you be asking me this in the first place?"

Did they already have a guess that these two were the titans? Is that why he seems like he's playing along? Her eyes widened, that had to be it! They were going to pull an Annie on these two!

"What'd you think would happen?" The brunette continued. "That id nod and say, 'sure let's go'?"

The blonde man's face was full of fear and shock.

"Oh right...that's right. What the hell was I thinking?" His face was crazed. "Have I really gone crazy?"

"Come, on." Eren started to walk away. "Let's go."

Everyone just stood where they were at. Tensed and hands near their swords. Sakura's guess was right. They all knew this was going to happen, they knew these two were more hidden enemies. Her fists clenched even harder. The sun slowly peeking through the clouds revealing itself.

"I see..." The man started to hunch over. "That's it. I've been here too long for my own good. It's been three long years surrounded by nothing but idiots. We were just kids...we didn't know anything...if only I never knew that there were people like this...I..." He started to cry. "..I wouldn't have become...such a half assed piece of shit!"

Eren stared as the man began to lift his sling off his head, revealing how his arm was perfectly fine.

"It's too late now! I don't know what's right anymore! But the only choice left for me now..." She could feel the others beginning to full face the man. "...is to face the consequences of my actions..." His revealed arm showing the steam floating off of the damaged skin. "...and as a warrior..."

"...fulfill my duty to the bitter end!"

Dark green eyes widened in fear as he stood in front of the man, getting an upclose and personal view of him.

"Reiner!" The other man began to shout. "Are we doing it?! Now?! Right here?!"

"Yeah." He began to run at Eren. "We settle this, right here, right now!"

Sakura dashed forward, sensing that Mikasa was going to come up and start swinging as the man had begun to first move. Grabbing Eren, she skidded a good distance away, holding onto him tightly as she brought out a kunai in her free hand.

Mikasa's swing hit the man in the crook of his neck, partially getting the hand the hand that tried to block it, not hitting the vital nape though. With the same swing she managed to cutting the front of Bertholdt's throat, both being knocked back by the effort of her blade. Sasuke pulled out his blade, standing in front of the Armin and Sasha, just as Naruto hopped back, kunai in hand to act as a barrier for the other soldiers towards the back.

The tall man was struggling, attempting to scream as he grabbed the front of his neck, clutching it for life. Mikasa jumped over top of him, getting ready to end him as she yelled for Eren to run, not noticing the large blonde man that had moved to shoulder check her off. She got flung back slightly, getting knocked off the side as she used her gear to hold on to the wall.

Both men turned and looked towards her and the brunette, faces full of disgust. She tightened her grip as the grey chakra began to hover and a light began to emit from the two. The warning of them about to turn.

"Eren! Get out of there!" The blonde tried to rush forward, only to be stopped as the Uchiha grabbed his collar and jumped back with him. Slamming his blade into the ground, he held onto it and the blonde boy as the pressure and air pushed back from the transformation. His eyes squinting from the light. Naruto grabbed Hange and Sasha, using his chakra to hold them down to the top of the wall, ducking as debris went flying past them.

A giant arm suddenly came flying at them. Sakura jumped straight up, still clutching the boy around the shoulders. The air pressure throwing her off and not able to control where she went the arm came back once again, easily grabbing the boy around his waist. Twisting so her feet landed on the hand she used her chakra to grab on, maneuvering so her arms let go of the brunette, and she was fully on the arm.

While the colossal titan was reaching out for another person, Ymir. It grabbed her body, she had been lying by the small blonde only to be plucked up like an insect. Struggling in the hand as it raised her up.

The armor titan began to move its body, positioning to jump down off the wall when Sakura saw her chance. Jumping up towards the head, no longer disturbed by the steam, she pulled back an arm. She paused as she saw Eren crying, reaching to bite his hand when she went with her decision. Bringing her fist down as hard as she could, with chakra flowing through it, it made contact. The impact caused her to fly back slightly, as the titan was rocketed towards the ground, with a light showing Eren had managed to turn, and had been in the air, blissfully ignorant to the impact the other titans had into the ground.

The earth below shattering as if hit by a meteor, dust and dirt flying high into the sky. She landed on the side of the wall, holding herself in a crouched position as she looked below to see what the outcome was. Quickly looking up, all she saw was steam and the half formed body on the walls. Hoping that her teammates could make sure everyone was safe and okay.

Said men were still standing in front of the others, in between them and the giant titan. They both tensed, bringing their arms up as the titans muscled twitched, it's huge arm pulling back.

"Everyone!" Hange yelled out. "Jump away from the wall!"

It's arm came crushing straight down, destroying the top of the wall, causing rocks and bits to fly everywhere.

"It's got Ymir!" Historia was panicking.

"And someone else too!" They could only see legs hanging from the other hand. The bodies went flying into the mouth right before it snapped shut.

They all landed on the side of the wall.

"This can't be...Bertholdt..." Armin whispered.

The whiskered man looked at the tall woman next to him as her teeth were grinding.

"All soldiers!" Hange yelled. "Prepare to attack! We're taking down the colossal titan! It's a threat to all humanity! Swarm the huge bastard!"

They all began to go flying up towards the monster, the blonde man rushing up with them.

"Sasuke!" He moves beside the black haired man as they landed on the top of the wall, not flying around like the others could. "We gotta do something about this guy!"

"I know!" He bit back out as he glared ahead. Watching as the rest of them went in, avoiding the flinging punches.

He lifted his blade out and dashed forward, moving faster than all of them as he landed on the titans face. The loud sound of chirping being heard as the lightening whipped around him, plunging the sword into the eye of the titan. The eye twitching on the other side was the only warning he got, pushing back he jumped as far away as he could.

The titan opened its mouth, as if stuck in a scream, as boiling hot steam came shooting out of it in all directions. The scouts that were holding on to him were flung off from the sheer force and heat. Many landing and rolling by the two teammates. One man struggling to stand as they all righted themselves, his hand completely burned to melted flesh.

"Water! Bring water!" Another man yelled.

"He's trying to disappear again?!" Hange our her sword up in defiance.

"No!" Armin stopped her as he stared ahead. "It's something different! The last time he vanished instantly. But now, he's maintaining his form and emitting heat likes furnace. If he keeps protecting himself with steam..." He showed what he was thinking by shooting a single spike towards the titan, only for it to be blown away. "We're unable to attack him with ODM gear! What-What do we do?!"

Hange just looked at the ground for a moment. "We can't do anything. We wait."

"Wait." Naruto's voice was ignored for a moment.

"Squads three and four, take position behind the titan. Rashad has command." The tall woman kept speaking.

"Got it!"

"Hey, lady." He tried a little louder.

"Squad two will wait here." She continued. "Lauda in command!"

"Understood!"

Getting fed up with being ignored, he did what he did best. Created fifty clones, some grabbing onto the soldiers and preventing them from moving, others flanking and taking the positions that were given, two left by his side for his own help. Everyone had been shocked and didn't move out of fear, the section commander doing such as well.

"Now, Hange-san, was it?" The blonde rolled his shoulder, as he fixed her a determined stare. "You didn't say anything about not being able to use jutsu."

"H-huh?" She could only blink.

"Hey, hey, whatchu thinking for this guy, Teme?" He smiled over at his teammate, who just raised an eyebrow at the boy.

"Not the usual." The red eyes had stared blankly at the titan. "Can't destroy the wall."

"Fine, fine." The man mumbled and scratched the back of his head. "Knock him down then?"

"Ah." Everyone took a step back as his sword began to cluster lightening again.

The blonde jumped through the air, avoiding the steam as he did hand signs. Soon blades of wind started to fly at the monsters arm on one side, easily piercing through the steam and tearing the arm into flying chunks thanks to its own steam.

Meanwhile the red eyed man lifted his sword, not even glancing at the lightening that was wrapping around it. Suddenly swinging it forward and pointing towards the titan, as long bold strikes came from the open sky, coming down and hitting the titan all over.

Naruto landed back next to him, the others standing around gasping as the steam started to fade out. The body slowly starting to lean on one side.

"T-they're gods..." Someone whispered from behind them.

"H-how..." Even Hange was at a loss for words right now.

"Ymir!" The small blonde screamed. That snapped the section commander back up.

"Change of plans!" She yelled out. "If you have the chance kill them, we are forgoing the capture plan, it's too dangerous. Armin, squad one, you're with me! We got a date with a armored titan!"

They jumped off the side, flying down to where the Sakura, Mikasa and Eren were.

Other soldiers began to pull back wounded, bringing them out of the dangerous area.

"Conny, Historia, take care of those two." Another woman called out.

"Wait! Ymir can't possibly be dead yet! Please, rescue her!"

"Right." The woman didn't want to make a promise, and looked towards the two men standing in cloaks. "We can do it. We got those two."

Sakura was pissed. Her green eyes narrowed in anger. When the dust moved away, Eren was struggling to get up, but that's not what made her upset. No, what made her upset was that her punched didn't obliterate him like she wanted. Sure the flow of power destroyed his legs, but his upper half was still intact. She watched as Eren attempted to jump on the armored titan, only to gain a large punch to the face, sending him flying.

She snapped to attention when she felt the black haired female about to move. Catching her off guard she grabbed her, pulling her close as she got closer and hung from the wall.

"Don't even think about it." She glared down at the other woman. "This isn't a time to rush in, my punch barely did anything, why would you think that blade would?!"

"I have to save Eren!" The young girl cried out as she struggled in her arms.

"We will-would you stop damnit?!" She shook the girl, and when that didn't work, sending it into the Mikasa she shocked her body with a small amount of chakra. "Let me test some things out first, okay?"

"Fine." The black eyes glared at her.

"Okay, now hook onto the wall so I don't have to carry you." The other woman did as she was told, holding on to the wall with the hooks by the pink haired woman.

Mikasa's eyes went wide as she small the small little blade in the woman's hand bad become surrounded with and enlarged with blue light, stretching out to a few feet long.

"Hopefully this can work better on him than on Annie." She frowned slightly before pushing off the wall.

With her speed she was able to come up completely unnoticed or seen, landing on the armored titans shoulder. Ignoring the creatures sluggish movements to crawl towards the other titan, she raised the kunai wielding arm up, slicing down at the shoulder socket, where red muscle was visible in between hardened skin. With the giant version of a chakra scalpel she was able to cut the arm half way off its socket in less than a second. Smirking before the injured titan began to flinch and swing its body around.

She ducked an incoming able hand, jumping off as Reiner even attempt to just squish her with a head roll. Landing on the ground, she flinched as she felt Eren beginning to get back up, looking over she could see him healing extremely quick.

Said boy had gotten up, approaching as he reeled an arm back, landing a mark on the armored's face, only to receive the good arms fist to his face, pushing him back.

Taking the chance, she jumped back up while his arm was still extended, landing behind the wrist. Moving quickly she began slicing at all visible spots, not even attempting at the hardened ones as she went for them. Moving quickly up the arm, she made it up to the uncut shoulder, slicing at it in a long arc motion. His eyes barely turning towards her as he just realized the damage she had down, his arm falling limp to his side. Pulling back her other arm, she laced it full of chakra, hitting her mark on his cheek as his body went flying out from under her. Avoiding flailing limbs as she landed back to the ground.

Her breathe slightly uneven as she watched him land over fifty feet away. The ground rumbling as the dirt and earth took the impact, along from the other titan standing to its feet. The armored titan laid immobile towards the wall. Her light green eyes looked up to see Eren walking towards the body.

"Wait!" The blonde's voice caught her offguard, her head snapping up to the wall to see Armin dangling. "Just get away!"

"Eren!" The dark haired female began to make her way to standing by the kunoichi. Dark grey eyes worried.

His form began to scream out, the loud deep yell he always made.

"Something doesn't feel right." Sakura whispered. The hairs on the back of her neck standing up.

Narrowed green eyes watched as Eren began to climb on top of the limp titan. Straddling it's chest as he smacked his hands on both sides of its face, slowly squeezing. The armor beginning to crack. Her eyes went wide as she realized something, most of the healing steam had been put into the lower half of the titan, suddenly switching to the original shoulder she had cut. How much time did they have before he was going to be able to move again? How long would it take to heal? Armin landing by her and the other woman drew her out of her thoughts.

"He's going to end this?" Even the blue eyes seemed slightly confused as he rooted for his friend. Then he began to yell. "Eren! Get away! Get closer to the wall! Their goal is to kidnap you and run away! We've gotta escape and prevent that from happening!"

The long haired titan turned its eyes over, staring at the blonde.

"But, Armin, Reiner isn't going to let us do as we please!" The dark haired woman spoke out.

She turned as she felt the third presence coming up behind them. A man with glasses.

"It's dangerous here! You three gotta get back!" He yelled before moving out. Armin listening as the two women stayed planted. Mikasa gradually listened.

She stood her ground, watching as Eren retreated back to the wall, standing where the rest of scouts were hanging. All of them cautiously staring at the unmoving titan. Glancing back, she jumped over slowly to the body, standing a few feet from its head as she glared down. Blank eyes turned as they saw her.

"Who do you work for?" No response, yet her voice remained calm. "It just so happened their was three shifters in the same class? All trying to retrieve the same boy?"

He continued to just stare at her, the steam floating around as he healed himself. She continued.

"You know I'm not from around here, im guessing you aren't either." She put a small frown on. "I want you to know you made a bad enemy of my team. Just take it this way, I'm not the strongest one at of my team."

She glanced down to his lower half as his foot twitched, only to bring the chakra scalpel up and across fingers that had attempted to smash her. Four of his fingers went flying off as his hand smashed into the ground. She moved back a few more feet as the titan began to stand, using its arms as leverage. Moving quick, she started to lash out at the arms, cutting major tendons or ligaments that gave the limbs most its function. She blocked her eyes with her free arm and squinted as debris went into the air as the titan landed on its face.

After a few minutes the titan stayed in the weird kneeling position, as if frozen in spot. She blinked, knowing it was just trying to heal itself in the mean time.

Slightly miffed, she didn't even bother talking again for a while, before she wanted to push her limits. To say something that would make him act out and give her an opportunity.

"You know, my teammate has a special technique. Hopefully by now he put your friend in it. Want to know what it is?" She paused and looked him in the eye. "He can stick you in a dream, torture you for so long when only a minute goes by here. It can bring up memories, make you live through them over and over. Finding your worst moment in life, living through it so many times at that point makes you suicidal. The topper is, it all feels so real."

The eyes widened for a moment, before his leg muscles started twitching. The next thing she knew was he started to push himself, using his legs to push forward as his upper half was stuck to the ground, leaving the grass and dirt destroyed as he moved forward. She watched as he kept at it, unsure of what to do. Cut at his legs? So she did just that, cutting his ankle and back of the knee she watched him drop flat again.

Eren started to walk away from the wall and towards them, the ecstatic and blushing Hange gave away her being the one to push for it. He got over to the limp titan and grabbed around his body with both legs and arms. Squeezing hard enough to chips and cracks began to appear in the hardest part of the skin. As time went on the armored titan had healed parts of its legs once again, doing the same thing as last time and dragging itself along the floor, this time with the other titan along for the ride. His arms healing a little delayed as he used them weakly to help pull them closer to the wall. His armor cracking and shooting off in chunks as the other titan continued to squeeze him.

"You got this!" She could hear Armin holler out as she moved closer.

"Go for it, Eren!" Some male soldier yelled. "Tear the head off his neck! Pull the traitor out of there!"

Something was still not right. She couldn't figure it out. Looking around, she couldn't see any other titans, no other chakra signatures either. So what was causing her sense to give her a warning?

"Keep at it! Don't let up!" A female soldier joined in the cheering.

The titan eventually collapsed, close to the original impact spot on the ground. Pink eyebrows scrunched in confusion, why there? Why give up right there?

"He stopped..." She heard the blonde speaking again. "...but, why right there?"

Turning her head she saw him looking straight up, and that's when it started to come together slowly. The armored titans yell only solidified her thought.

"Everyone, get out of here!" She snapped her head towards the scouts, cloak whipping around her lightly as she raised her voice. "You need to gain distance! Move now!"

"Be on your guard! He's calling more titans!" Hange yelled out to the soldiers who were still on the wall by them, seemingly ignoring her.

The yelling stopped and time seemed to tick by slowly. Sakura double checked and there wasn't anything new nearby. She glared up at the other titan.

"No titans spotted in the area!" A soldier reported to the tall woman.

"What a useless struggle." The same male soldier from earlier. "Try screaming for help with your head ripped off idiot!"

"Look, Eren's almost got it!"

"You need to listen to me!" She bit out at the section commander. "That's not what he's-"

"-Sakura!"

Blue eyes blinked, turning as he felt the same people from earlier return. It was the two blonde men and their squad. They seemed shocked to see all his clones but quickly zoned in on the large monster. The steam was starting to let down slightly, but was still an inconvenience, blocking them from attacking the charred body. Sasuke's attack had immobilized and destroy the skin, the steam starting to eat up at other chunks of itself.

"The colossal titan...I knew it...when did that bastard show up?!" The man clutched his swords, looking over to the small blonde female who was caring for the injured. "Where's Eren?! What's the situation?"

"Eren and the others are that way!" She quickly replied.

He ran over the side to watch the scene below, catching a glimpse of the downed armored titan. Not keeping his eyes on it long as he looked to the other titan.

"Eren?!" He spoke shocked. "Is that his titan form?"

"Be careful." The man jumped back as he turned to a cloaked blonde man.

"Huh?" He could only answer as he stared with suspicious eyes.

"Something isn't right." His blonde eyes peered over at the motionless titan. "We can't tell what's giving us the impending feeling, so keep your guard up."

"Y-Yeah." He watched the strange person walk away, not even going to try and ask why there was fifth of him standing around.

A sudden scream caught all their ears. Naruto pushes by to look down, confused by the sight of the armored titan being locked in a grip.

"What's up with the armored titan?" The small bald boy near him spoke up. "Why'd he scream like that?"

"Dobe." His blue eyes turned over to ebony ones. The silent conversation passed between them.

"She's down there, it should be fine." He frowned. "But, that scream didn't sound like something cornered or scared."

The dark haired man nodded, peering down along with his best friend as he stared at said woman's chakra. The sudden cracking noise had him snapping his head with red eyes shifting to life. Both him and his partner pausing for a moment before he turned back over the wall.

"Sakura!" He screamed, hoping to give her some heads up if she didn't notice it happening.

"Shit!" The whiskered man clenched his teeth.

"Hey?" The bald boy by them seemed confused until he looked over to the titan, his eyes opening dramatically. "Hey, hey, hey, hey!" He gained everyone else's attention if they didn't already have it to the monstrosity.

It's ribs were cracking, breaking one by one as it started to lean to the side. It's body putting all its weight into tipping over.

One soldier ran to the wall to scream over.

"Above you! Look out!"

"-Sakura!"

Her eyes snapped up to the top of the wall, Sasuke screaming her name always meant something bad! She could see the colossal titan starting to shift weight, it's ribs visibly breaking and it started to lean towards them.

"Hange!" She yelled over to the scouts, making clones that rushed towards the group as she did, her voice with slight panic. "Get them out of here now!"

The clones landing and grabbing the soldiers, each telling them to move and hurry.

"What do you-" Said woman began to reply, a clone grabbing her arm out of nowhere, when she was cut off by another frantic yell.

"Above you! Look out!"

All they could see was the colossal titan coming down, head first with its mouth open right towards the two shifters on the ground.


End file.
